


I knew I wouldn't forget you

by DoctorFatCat



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Office, BTW, Ch 3 is a showki spin-off, Eventual Smut, JooHyuk, Knotting, M/M, Non-Conventional Dynamics, People from other groups are mentioned because I can't bother to come up with OCs, Pining, Self-Lubrication, Showki, Slow Burn, Smut, Social Issues, Switching, There's a hamster, Wonkyun, attempted slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-15 13:07:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17529314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorFatCat/pseuds/DoctorFatCat
Summary: "And there, sitting across his boss, in one of the chairs, is Im Changkyun.You’ve got to be kidding me."The fic in which Hoseok smells like a summer night and Changkyun smells like countryside winter





	I knew I wouldn't forget you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [averyblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/averyblue/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a long oneshot + the showki spin off chapter, but then the showki bingo happened and suddenly I was going in between writing this and bingo fics and vulnerable and bla bla bla  
> But it's our boy's birthday, so I'm posting this for you guys (esp. Jamie bc this story was written for her)  
> I hope you enjoy it.  
> -  
> Special thanks to Satsuki for enduring my endless and weird questions, which I could not ask Jamie because if I did I'd spoil the fic too much lmao. You saved my ass, dude.  
> Also I hope you guys forgive me for being inaccurate when writing the trip, because I tried to leave things simple so that if I did something wrong at least it wouldn't be that tragic lmao. Still, if anything bothers you guys, let me know <3

“Hey, isn’t this your ex?” Asks his secretary, standing next to him where she’s been waiting for his answer about a report. She waves her phone in front of his face, displaying a picture of Hyunwoo and his new — not actually, since he and Kihyun had been dating for over a year now — boyfriend.

“Yes. And why do you follow him on instagram?” He questions, not annoyed, but surely bothered. He always felt a bit insecure around the smaller alphas like Nayeon when he was still dating Hyunwoo.

“He’s cute.” She shrugs. “Does it bother you?”

“It bothers me that you’re preying on him. Doesn’t bother me because I’m still in love with him, if it’s what you’re implying.” He sighs, rubbing his face as he tries to find the file on his computer, ignoring the fact that Hyunwoo being engaged already since they’ve broken up while Hoseok himself hasn’t even dated anyone in the meantime brings a feeling of loneliness to his heart.

Hyungwon would scold him for it, but he can’t help but crave it.

“Have you met this new boyfriend of his?” She asks, throwing her hair over her shoulder, her strong alpha scent hitting Hoseok head on and making him scrunch his nose. Too musky, he’s into less intense aromas.

“Yes.” Answers the ravenette, trying not to snap at his secretary curiosity. He could do without Nayeon asking numerous questions today. “I like him, he likes me. Me and Hyunwoo ended things on good terms.” He finishes. “Not that it’s any of your business.” Hoseok adds.

She makes a face. “Okay, sorry.” Nayeon raises her hands in redemption. “Pretend I didn’t ask.”

“As if it was that easy.”

“What’s up with you today?” She huffs.

Hoseok sighs, head dropping forward. “I’m sorry.” He says painly. “Not the best of days.” He mutters. “And honestly, the questions you’re asking are not making it any better.”

Nayeon looks at him with a small smile and kind eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m not great at sensing the atmosphere.”

He snorts. “No joke.” And earns a flick on his arm.

“Find the reports, and then call me so I can finally get the protocols down.” She hops off the table and walks towards the door to his office, clapping her hands quickly. “Chop chop chop.”

He smiles to himself. Yeah, she can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but can also be a good friend. And know when to scold him.

He finds the report eventually, and hates himself for archiving them where he did. He then saves them in another file, where he knows he’ll look first next time. After sending them to Nayeon, he opens his agency email, and goes through the spam, and the actual business offers, people interested in them and wanting to make deals.

 _Maybe after lunch._ Hoseok thinks to himself as he glances at the digital clock and realizes it’s five minutes past lunch time.

He takes off his blazer and drapes it over his chair as he stands, and pulls up his sleeves. With a brief glance to the mirror after he’s washed his hands, he makes sure he looks presentable and runs a hand through his hair. Lee Hoseok is a good looking man, there’s no denying, and even if his self esteem has had better days, he can still give himself that one. He looks nice.

Not that it matters, since he’s having lunch at the restaurant on the third floor, and everyone else from the company has seen him on his best _and_ worst days.

At the ‘canteen’, he greets his coworkers, feels awkward at stares from people he doesn’t really know, including omegas. _Especially_ omegas, honestly. Sometimes it feels like he’s been preyed at. Like he’s being targeted, expected to act unlike himself.

He grabs his tray with his plate and his Pepsi and walks over to the table where some publicists and managers are seated at.

Then on his way Hoseok bumps shoulders with someone not much shorter, but definitely not as broad as him, and the smell of petrichor and trees fills his nose. There’s a mumbled apology, and the voice is deep. He glances behind himself.

It’s one of the graphic designer boys. He remembers this one ‘cause he had done an illustration for his last project, and even if he hadn’t won by popular vote, his sample had been Hoseok’s favorite, and he had voted for it.

The publicist had thought he was an omega at first, being short and cute like that, but his handsome and harsh masculine features and deep voice could be attributed to an alpha as well. And then there was his scent, the way he carried himself. His calmness and reliableness, the smoothness of his speech. He’s most definitely a beta.

“Are you gonna stand there all day, boss?” Asks Jongdae, a marketing manager. Hoseok turns to the table and walks the rest of the way there, sits down and bites into a carrot stick. “Cat’s got your tongue?” He jokes, then sniffs the air. “You smell like beta.”

“Just bumped into a kid. I think he’s from the graphic design department.”

“That’s my cousin.” Nayeon comments as she chews on rice. “He’s a designer. A real nice beta.” He says.

“I didn’t know you had a cousin here.” Hoseok frowns, stabs his chicken breast with a fork. Jongdae grimaces.

“That’s ‘cause you never listen, oppa.” She rolls her eyes. “I told you about him when we were closing the contract with Nintendo and you chose his art piece.”

Hoseok remembers. “I remember.” He mumbles. “Sorry, he had black hair back then so I guess it went over my head.”

“He looks good blond.” Mutters Seokjin, who _definitely_ wasn’t there before.

“Where did you come from?” Hoseok frowns, looking around.

“He does.” Nayeon nods. “I’d think he wouldn’t look that great with blonde hair. You know, when we were teens he had this almost platinum blond. It was a mess.”

“Was he there when I sat down?” Hoseok asks Jongdae.

“I think the dirty blond suits him better.” She finishes.

“And the glasses do him justice.” Jongdae nods.

“Are we a table of alphas thirsting over a beta?” Hoseok chuckles.

“We’re not _thirsting_ over him. He just looks cute and we can appreciate it. Doesn’t mean we’ve got to be _betasexual.”_ Seokjin says, then laughs obnoxiously at his joke. “I’m great.” He sighs, shaking his head slowly and eating another fry.

Jongdae chuckles at the other’s outburst and shakes his head with a smile. “I wouldn’t mind dating a beta if he looked like that.” He shrugs.

“You say that like dating a beta is such a bad thing.” Nayeon raises an eyebrow, stealing fries from Seokjin’s plate and earning a half-hearted glare from him.

“It’s not. But it’s not that common.” He explains. “Hoseok-ssi, would _you_ date a beta?”

He snorts. “I’d be lucky to be dating anyone.”

Nayeon rolls her eyes.

“Don’t start with that.” Seokjin groans.

“No self-deprecating before I’m done eating please.” Jongdae adds.

Hoseok chuckles at them, and dives into his salad with a somewhat sad smile.

The rest of lunch is pretty uneventful. He listens as Seokjin fills them up on a date he had with a cute tall omega — the one with “model proportions and a cute nose” — and Jongdae tells them about the gossip that comes and goes in the company. Who’s getting fired, who’s getting promoted, who’s getting nailed.

“So I heard Hoseok’s going on another trip?” Seokjin inquires..

“Japan? Same as always?” Asks Jongdae.

Hoseok scratches the back of his neck. Twenty minutes left of lunch, he wishes he could just go to his office and answer the emails. “Apparently, yeah, but they’ve said there’s maybe another business that might be interested, but they won’t tell me where until they’re sure.” He sighs. “I just hope they’re not sending me off to Australia, you know?”

“Why not? Hug some Koalas, be happy.” Jongdae says.

“Clearly, because that’s all australians do.” Seokjin snorts.

“You know how bad in english I am. I’ve been able to walk around the topic all this time, it might screw the trust the company has on me.” He mumbles. “Also Koalas can give you chlamydia.”

Nayeon rolls her eyes. “Then don’t go near them.”

“I’m not going to Australia.” He insists. “At least I hope not.”

“Namjoon can speak english.” Seokjin says quietly, smiling to himself.

“Just mate the guy already if he’s so perfect.” Jongdae fumes. “Jesus.”

“Chill, oppa.” Nayeon frowns. “You need to calm down.”

“Guys, I’m going.” Hoseok announces, standing and taking his tray. “Got a lot to do, you know.”

They all nod. They know.

“Don’t overwork yourself.” Says Jongdae.

“I’ll be up as soon as lunch is over, boss.” Nayeon says, playfully imitating a soldier at attention.

He nods at her, then waves them goodbye and walks off the canteen so he can exile himself from the outside world inside his office.

As he’s walking out, he glances up for no particular reason, as it seems the beta from earlier does the same, ‘cause their gazes meet, and they share it for over a second, curious looks on their eyes. The boy is the first to look away, uninterested, back to paying attention to whatever his friend is babbling about.

Soon, the day is over, and no news from the business in God-knows-where, which means Hoseok is yet to find out where the hell he’s supposed to go, if things work out. He feels restless, and like he needs to do something. He’s not allowed to take certain stuff from work home, so he can’t deal with those until the next day comes.

The next best thing is going out and browsing the market pretending he’s got an actual shopping list like civilized people do, and that he doesn’t, instead, walk around guessing what he needs. It’s more difficult, and it proves to be quite effective, but it’s routine, and he doesn’t feel like changing.

So to make his own life just a little bit more difficult, instead of going to a street corner E-Mart, Hoseok walks into a Lotte Mart.

First thing he grabs is beer, then coffee, and then he stares at them and has a little existential crisis over what he’s become. It’s over in a minute, and he grabs some crisps.

As he’s walking, a basket hanging from his forearm and unfocused gaze looking for stuff he hasn’t seen around in his home lately, but definitely can’t wait any longer to improvise. He grabs ramen noodles, and some deodorant, then his phone dings and he reaches for his pocket to fish it out.

It’s Nayeon, she’s sent a text message on Kakao. He looks down, cursing himself for the ridiculously low brightness of the phone, unfunctional under the bright lighting of the market, and tries to raise it so he can at least make out the words.

Something about the trip, apparently, the news coming from Jongdae, who heard from someone else in Finances, that apparently they’re gonna get to arrange the meeting for a possible deal, and he might just be about to find out where the heck he’s going.

Then on his peripheral vision he notices something coming his way, and looks up. He stops walking so he won’t crash into a cart. There stands the beta, the graphic designer, looking at him with both hands where they were before pushing the cart, hair a little messier, wearing a shirt, jeans and converse shoes, and with slightly widened eyes, staring right at Hoseok.

Then he smiles awkwardly, clearly not sure what to do about a businessman from the company he works in, an important one at that, blocking his way and standing between himself and those nice butter cookies on the shelf. Hoseok doesn’t smile back. His face doesn’t change the dumbfounded look it has on, and he raises a hand, making an even bigger fool of himself, and waves slowly.

“Um.” The boy starts, and there it is, his deep calm voice, octaves low enough to fool someone into thinking he’s an alpha, tone smooth enough to make it clear he’s a beta. “Can you…?” He waves his hand to the side. “If you’re not getting something on that shelf, I mean.”

It takes Hoseok a hot second to get what it is he’s referring to. He remains slightly shocked at the idea of meeting someone from work outside of work, feeling similar to how if felt as a child to realize teachers had their own lives as well. Then he thinks to himself that it really is a fact that when you acknowledge something, you start seeing it everywhere.

In this case something is the graphic designer beta with the cute spectacles.

“No, sorry, you can go.” He moves to the side, and the blond nods, pushing the cart forward and considering the box of biscuits. “So you… Work at Connect Incorporated as well, right?” He tries making small talk, God knows why.

“I do.” He answers with thinned lips and a slow nod. “You’re Lee Hoseok, my cousin is your secretary.”

“Yeah. Nayeon. She’s great, love her.” Hoseok smiles. “I mean, not _that_ way. We’re friends.”

“Yes, I know.” Nayeon’s cousin chuckles. “You’re not her type.”

“You mean alpha?” He frowns. Nayeon had dated alphas before. He knows that, even met some.

“I mean male.” The boy clarifies.

“Right, sorry.” He smiles awkwardly. “Sorry, I don’t remember your name?”

“Why would you?” The other says to himself, but Hoseok still hears it. He chooses not to question it. “It’s Changkyun. Im Changkyun.”

“Nice to meet you.” Hoseok offers a hand. Changkyun stares at it for a second before taking it.

“Nice to meet you too.” He says. “Not to be rude, but I really have to run now, I’ve got to run some more errands after here and I…”

“No, of course! Sorry to take up your time and all.” Hyungwon would have pretended to slice the tension in the air with an imaginary sword. “See you around, Changkyun-ssi.”

“Equally, sunbae-nim.” The boy waves, then turns into the next aisle.

Hoseok’s leaving. Who needs napkins? Hoseok’s doesn’t, he can use toilet paper instead until he has someone over that isn’t Minhyuk and Jooheon, which he rarely ever does.

Anything to escape another one of those encounters. He shivers at the thought.

 

Next day comes sooner than expected, and it goes by mostly like all the other days of his life go. Only this time he’s aware of Changkyun’s presence whenever the beta is around. It goes mostly like that in the following couple of days and he tries his best to pretend he’s not trying to avoid being alone around the boy, even if Changkyun isn’t even sparing a glance at him. He feels paranoid, but honestly he dreads awkward encounters, hates them extremely. Hyunwoo was good with people, even if his nature was awkward, he knew how to behave in certain social situations, while Hoseok just hung around being his handsome, bulky, shorter alpha. He liked to just be Hyunwoo’s arm candy sometimes, and even if they weren’t compatible to be together like that in many ways, he misses the feeling of not having to worry about keeping up the facade of generic alpha, what everyone expects of someone with his subgender.

Lee Hoseok can be charming, he can be nice and outgoing and give a first great impression, then from there he’s confident enough not to be awkward anymore. Which is exactly the deal with this Changkyun boy. Their first impression was as shit as it gets _,_ awkward, and Hoseok wonders for how long he’ll suffer over it. He could’ve reacted in _any way,_ he could have smiled and said “good evening”, he could have asked how he was doing, he could have just said “Oh I’m sorry.” and moved to the side so the younger could pass. But no. He had to stare at him with big eyes and parted lips and waved like a five year old who has just met someone who has bright colored hair.

He knows he won’t let himself live it down.

Then around three days after the supermarket event, and Jongdae asking what the hell’s wrong with him and why he keeps glancing around like he’s being chased by the FBI, he decides he can relax. It’ll be fine, Changkyun probably doesn’t care, and Hoseok has important stuff to worry about. Deals, contracts, meetings, the trip he doesn’t even know where to, etc. He doesn’t need to keep beating himself up over one of the few social encounters he’s had that wasn’t with friends or business related, just ‘cause it was a bit awkward.

Then, around two in the afternoon, while reading a document from one of the companies they’re affiliated with about some changes that needed to be made as they were to renew the contract soon, Nayeon calls to inform his superior needs him. So like the good boy he is, Hoseok walks up to his office, and knocks softly until he’s asked to come in.

And there, sitting across his boss, in one of the chairs, is Im Changkyun.

_You’ve got to be kidding me._

They make awkward eye contact once again, and Hoseok curses himself for not being able not to act this way around the boy. He greets them politely, and sits next to Changkyun in the empty chair his boss motions to.

“So, Hoseok-ssi.” Mr. Lee Donghae starts. “This here is Im Changkyun, I take you’re familiar with him since you were so fond of his sample print for the Nintendo deal.” He motions towards the boy, and intertwines his own fingers together. “Changkyun-ssi, this, as you might already know, is Lee Hoseok, chief publicist and PR supervisor.”

The pause he takes is enough for Hoseok to try his hardest not to blush under the younger’s gaze over him, probably amused at their boss exposing the ravenette about favoring his sample.

“I mean to be brief, I have a videoconference in a few minutes.” He mutters, checking the time on his watch. “I need you to be acquantainted with one another. There’ll be a certain situation in which I might need the two of you to work as a team, and be comfortable around each other. So that’s a task I’m leaving upon you.” He says. “The details about this business will be available to you once we’re sure it’s going to work. But I’d suggest of you to work on getting to know each other as soon as you can, as I’m not sure how much time we’ll have once we have it all settled and confirmed.” He rests back on his chair. “Questions?”

Changkyun nods, and slightly raises his hand. “Why the both of us specifically, sir?” He asks, smooth voice like honey echoing in the room. “Is there a reason? Was it just personal preference?”

“There’s a reason why you’ve been chosen. That’s one of the things we’ll display to you later on, though.”

The younger shrugs with a sigh and nods, accepting he won’t be getting his answers until it’s decided.

“Is this about a possible deal, sir?” Hoseok is the next to ask.

Lee Donghae glances at him, and the corner of his lips tug as if considering a smile. “I’m afraid that can’t be revealed yet.” He speaks up, and the publicist recognizes his tone. He inhales, then looks at Changkyun.

“It will be done.” He tells his boss, and nods once. Then they both glance at Changkyun, who does the same when he realizes they’re waiting for his confirmation.

“Good!” Donghae claps his hands together once, and grins. “That’ll be all, gentlemen. I’ll be sure to update you on what you’ll be needing to know, when possible.” He rests back once again. “In the meantime, get acquantainced. I expect teamwork.”

Hoseok nods. “Teamwork makes the dreamwork.” He says in a monotone voice, quoting the company’s motto, as it was decided by the main bossman, who had founded the company.

Changkyun seems to be suppressing his laughter by his side, and the older nudges him, indicating they should go. “Thank you for your time.” The blond says, bowing respectfully. Hoseok does the same, only quicker.

They walk out side by side, not a word said to each other until they step foot in the elevator, which for some reason is empty. It’s never empty.

The world is plotting against Hoseok. He knows it and will prove it.

“So…” The younger starts. “A business deal.” He states, and meets the alpha’s gaze in the mirror. “Why am I needed, then, sunbae-nim?”

“Maybe you were hand picked for this brand in specific. Maybe the brand asked for you.”

“Isn’t the sample print decided during stage two, though?”

Hoseok nibbles on his bottom lip. “Might be a special occasion.” He shrugs. “I don’t know.”

They settle on silence, and it grows awkward by the second, the lift taking ages to reach the floor Hoseok works. They look around, avoiding each other’s gazes, then in a moment, the beta speaks up. “Did any of us press a button?”

Hoseok feels stupid. “We didn’t.”

They reach for the button at the same time, and accidentally get pressed together from forearm to shoulder. The alpha’s scent hits Changkyun right on the face, and he scrunches his nose at how strong it is. Hoseok catches his reaction, and recoils timidly.

The younger feels bad, and wonders if he should explain he’s just overwhelmed by the intensity of it, not the scent on itself. But he stays on wondering, and says nothing. Lee Hoseok is by far one of the most adored alphas he’s met. He doesn’t need the nerdy beta from graphic design to reassure him.

They get to Hoseok’s floor, and the taller says a quick ‘bye’ before walking out, directing himself towards his office, ignoring Seokjin’s raised eyebrow at him as he walks by his friend’s office’s door.

“Everything alright, oppa?” Nayeon questions as he walks by her desk.

He looks over his shoulder with a tired look on his face. “Phenomenal.” He says sarcastically, but with no bite towards her.

She grimaces as he enters the office and closes the door behind himself.

He needs to get closer to this boy. As close as needed for them to stop acting around each other like awkward teens who are being obligated to hang out because their parents are friends. Not only because it was asked of him, but because it’s now become his personal goal to act natural around this beta. Maybe this is something he needs to prove to himself. He’s not really close with any beta, so this might be a good experience. Perhaps it’s what he needs in his life, something new and exciting. A beta company might do him well.

Then he tells himself to stop thinking of the graphic designer boy as a piece of meat with a subgender tag, and goes back to work.

The next day, he doesn’t see Changkyun around, and stops himself from whining about it to his friends last second. He hasn’t updated anyone on the task his boss had trusted him with, and he’s not about to, knowing the knowledge might drive the three other alphas to drive his life into hell.

Though he’s not as good in refraining himself from glancing around, looking for the blond beta, and his friends do end up noticing. Nayeon is the first to speak up, asking him about it, and Seokjin follows swift with the teasing, and Jongdae joins them.

The sole reason why they don’t keep that up until lunch break is over is because they receive a nasty glare from Joohyun, the omega responsible for the medical section and HR supervisor. Everyone’s a tad bit afraid of her, and despite it, Nayeon has a huge crush on her. Hoseok thinks it’s understandable. Bae Joohyun has a sweet side that makes anyone, omega, beta or alpha, melt, and she’s stunning, scent sweet and fruity like watermelons and strawberries.

She can also get them into trouble for disrupting the peace in the canteen, and acting juvenile, so they all shut up, thankfully.

The next day, Nayeon doesn’t ask a thing, but she’s intuitive, and as always can read Hoseok easily, the older being transparent as he is.

“He might be at the patio.” She hums, standing next to his desk as she goes through a document to make sure all’s right so she can deliver it to the PR.

“What?” Hoseok frowns, looking up from the resolution he’s also analyzing to send to the PR. Sometimes they work in doubles. “Who?”

Nayeon doesn’t even look up from the paper. “Changkyun. He says he’s trying to quit smoking but always ends up there with that Jeongyeon girl.” She purses her lips. “If you wanna talk to him, now’s a good time.”

“Why would I want to? I have nothing to say.” Hoseok argues, when in reality he does want to, and is willing to make the effort.

“First, because I want you to go there and snatch that cancer stick from his mouth and tell him to go to work, second, go make an effort to befriend him, you need someone like him in your life, he needs someone like you in his life, and your boss told you to.” She puts the document on the table and rests her hand over it, her gaze firm and stern. “Now, oppa.”

Hoseok pushes back his chair and stands. “Sometimes I think you forget who’s the boss of whose in here.”

“No, I know.” She says with an amused smile and now back to the documents. “Chop chop.”

He doesn’t fight her.

He takes the lift and walks cautiously to the patio, not in the least thrilled to breathe in the smoke filled air. He can see through the glass doors, Changkyun there without his jacket on, his shirt with the short sleeves’ cuffs rolled up a bit, resting against a wall and chatting with a girl with a light brown bob and straight fringe, who might be Jeongyeon, the alpha girl who’s also a graphic designer, and Nayeon seems to hate for some reason.

“Hey.” He greets, walking up to them. Jeongyeon reacts first, eyes widening slightly and smiling unsure.

“Good afternoon, sunbae-nim.” She bows slightly.

Changkyun frowns slightly, but there’s a very small grin on his lips. “Hello.” He says, less stiff than Hoseok anticipated. “You smoke too, sunbae-nim?”

“Not really, no.” He coughs then, as if to prove his point. “Nayeon told me you would be here.”

He blushes, and it goes unnoticed by Hoseok but not to Changkyun, how Jeongyeon perks up at the mention of the other alpha girl.

“Wouldn’t have guessed, honestly, sunbae-nim. Your scent is very…”

“Tricky, I know.” He smiles, almost embarrassed. “But I’ve never been inclined to.”

“Did you need me for something?” He asks, brings the stick to his mouth and inhales the smoke. Hoseok tries not to grimace.

“I just wanted to talk.” He brings in his massive shoulders covered by the suit jacket. “You weren’t here yesterday?”

“Yeah, my hamster had a cold.” He says with a frown on his lips, then puffs out the smoke. “But she’s all better now.”

“That’s good! What’s her name?” Asks the older alpha.

Changkyun’s reaction is to look at him quizzically, as if not expecting Hoseok to be interested in him, much else his hamster — and really, he _wasn’t_ expecting. “Jamie.” He says simply.

“Cute name.” He smiles, then feels the need to address it before he feels the question creeping up and eating him inside out. “I didn’t know you smoked.”

“Oh… Well, yeah, I’m trying to quit.” He shrugs, then brings it back to his lips. He doesn’t get to take a drag as Hoseok starts talking.

“Going out of your way to smoke isn’t trying to quit.” He raises an eyebrow. Changkyun opens his mouth to try and say something, hand falling from his mouth, but Hoseok beats him to it by taking the cigarette from between his fingers and putting it out in the ashtray on the bin, before he throws it away. “Get back to work.” He says, sounding a bit tired, but not stern. “You’re better off inside doing whatever it is you’re assigned to right now then out here slowly committing suicide.”

The beta huffs. “No need to be all poetic. I’m going.” He glares half heartedly, then walks out.

Hoseok and Jeongyeon share a gaze, and it’s different between them, since it’s alpha to alpha.

“Did Nayeon-unnie ask you to come here and do that?” She questions.

Hoseok purses his lips in thought, curious about the girl talking about Nayeon so casually, since he’d thought they weren’t close at all. “Kinda?”

Then the girl happily puts out her own stick and throws it away before following Changkyun out, bidding the publicist a farewell on her way.

_Are all graphic designers like this?_

“I thought you hated Jeongyeon.” Hoseok comments as he walks past Nayeon’s desk.

The younger alpha is up in a second, forgetting whatever she was doing and following the black haired male into his office. “What do you mean? I detest her.”

“Well.” He shrugs. “She doesn’t seem to return the feeling.”

Nayeon crosses her arms and throws her hair over her shoulder, a part of it returning and cascading over the shoulder like a dark waterfall. “She’s annoying.” She huffs. “Doesn’t matter what she thinks of me.”

The older snorts. “I’d say it does matter.” He looks up at her.

“It does not.” She answers, a little more stern.

“Okay, but consider this: yes it d-”

 _“Enough.”_ She roars, using her alpha voice. Hoseok looks up, wide eyed and surprised, then he squints. Nayeon straightens up.

“Have you lost your mind?” He says, lowly, his voice domineering. “Don’t use that tone with me. Are you trying to start a fight, Im Nayeon?” Hoseok glances at the office’s open door to make sure no one’s heard them. “You try that with any other alpha and you’re in trouble!” He scolds.

“I know that.” She frowns. “I’m sorry. It was a reflex.”

“Control it.” He demands. “You could end up hurting yourself.”

“You wouldn’t stop, oppa!” She stomps her foot. Hoseok is reminded she’s three years younger than him, and inside, still a child.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have teased you.” He sighs. She crosses her arms again and glares, Hoseok has to laugh. “Forgive me.” He says with a smile, patting her head.

“No.” She answers, and walks out with her arms still crossed. The older alpha rolls his eyes and sits down on his desk.

He checks the emails, and two stand out to him. One of them is from Seokjin, which was sent to both him and Jongdae, and it includes a ‘List of perks of dating a Namjoon.’ Hoseok replies with a vomiting emoji.

The second to stand out is an email from the Chief Operating Officer of the company, a beta with the same given name as him, Jung Hoseok. The email is brief, and cordial, and the alpha inhales deeply before holding his breath.

He’s done for.

 

The next night, late at into it, Lee Hoseok lies against the pillows on his bed. Far more than he actually needs, and he wonders why, indeed, he has so many. Maybe it’s a habit from when he lived with Hyungwon, the omega had always liked numerous pillows, so he could just throw himself in them and sleep like a hibernating bear.

He wonders why he feels like this. Everything feels empty. After the news he received the day before, that kept him up and restless at night, he wonders what’s gonna be of him. What is he gonna do? What’s gonna be of him if he loses his job. Then he’ll have nothing. No job, no significant other to hold him and comforts, no idea of what to do next. He feels alone.

Hoseok takes his phone, and dials a number that used to be his number one option before.

He hears the dial tone, and then someone on the other line picks up.

 _“Hey, everything alright?”_ Says the voice, sounding tired.

“Oh god, did I wake you? Sorry.” He chuckles. “I don’t know what time it is.”

_“It’s about three in the morning.”_

“Sorry bro.”

 _“´S alright.”_ Hyunwoo replies. _“What’s going on?”_

Hoseok shrugs even if the other male can’t see it. “Just missing you I guess.”

Hyunwoo snorts. _“Feeling lonely?”_

“Maybe.” He chuckles along, sad smile on his face.

On the other line, he hears hustling, another voice barely audible asking what’s going on, then Hyunwoo’s voice explaining.

“Did I wake Kihyun too?”

 _“No, I did.”_ The other answers. _“It’s okay, he’s using it as an excuse to cuddle me again.”_

There’s the sound of a protest, which is in fact too close to the phone for the other person not to be on top of Hyunwoo.

“Sorry Kihyunie.” He says, louder.

 _“It’s okay, hyung.”_ Replies the younger alpha in a slurry voice.

 _“What’s got you like this?”_ Hyunwoo questions, speaking softly, probably because of Kihyun. _“Tell me what happened.”_

There’s a small pause. “Got an email from the COO about this business trip.” He sighs. “And I’m not sure I’ll manage. And just, it’s making me…” He trails off, not sure how to explain it.

 _“You’re worried so you’re wishing you had someone there to hold you and you’re feeling lonely because of it?”_ Hyunwoo explains it for him. _“So you thought you’d call me because I’m your only friend that won’t just tell you it’ll be okay and who would understand.”_

He sighs. “Yeah.”

 _“Hoseok, you have to stop holding back.”_ The other male sighs. _“We broke up on good terms, you’re one of my best friends, you have no reason to be scared of finding someone else.”_

“It’s complicated.” He groans, rolling and lying on his front, face against the mattress.

_“Then uncomplicate it.”_

“I’m scared I’m gonna get accomodated again like I did with you.” He explains. “We didn’t fit well together as a couple, but I loved you and I thought it was enough and that I would spend my life by your side with just that. If you hadn’t brought it up I wouldn’t have wondered if maybe just loving you wasn’t enough.” He sighs. “I’d have settled low ‘cause I was comfortable.”

 _“You’d have settled where you were loved, Hoseok.”_ The younger says calmly. _“I’d never blame you. No one could ever blame you for wanting to be with someone you loved, and who loved you back.”_ He sighs. _“I almost settled too.”_

“But you didn’t, and you spoke up.” He says quietly. “And you found your mate.”

A small pause, and the other’s voice is filled with fondness as he says _“Yeah. I did.”_

“I just want to find my one too.” He whines. “Someone who’s gonna make my stomach flutter with butterflies and who I’ll get along really well and who’s gonna fit with me like a puzzle piece.”

 _“I don’t know, Hoseok. Give people a chance.”_ He shrugs. _“Your one might be where you least expect, as cliché as that sounds. You just gotta stop idealizing and worrying too much, and do what feels right.”_

There’s a muffled voice on the other end, then Hyunwoo asking something, and next thing Hoseok knows Kihyun’s on the phone.

 _“Hyung, hi, so listen, I love your dumb ass with all my heart, but Hyunwoo-hyung has an early doctor’s appointment tomorrow and he really needs to sleep.”_ Kihyun says. _“He’s glaring really badly at me and I don’t like the attitude, mister.”_ The last part is directed at his fiancé. _“Do you mind if I cut this short? Are you okay?”_

Hoseok laughs. “Yeah, Kihyunie. I feel better.” He nods, rolling onto his back. “Is everything alright? Going to the doctor and all?”

 _“Just an obstetrician visit. We’re thinking there’s something up with his birth control. Collateral effects and all.”_ He sighs. _“But it’s alright, it’s not the worst thing in the world, at least that’s what he tells me.”_

“Do you think maybe…?”

 _“No. We took tests, even went to a doctor to be sure. It was her who suggested we take him to check if his birth control needs a change.”_ He makes a small noise. _“We’re thinking maybe we should take him off the birth control altogether, but I don’t know how it’ll affect him, you know? What if his body just crazes up?”_

“I get it.” The publicist nods in understanding.

 _“Excuse me, fiancé, are you and my ex done talking about my hormonal situation at half past three in the morning? Didn’t you have to cut it short?”_ Hyunwoo says, and Hoseok hears it clearly.

“Buddy, this concerns to alphas only.” He says sarcastically. “If we need a class about knotting we’ll be contacting you.”

 _“Very funny.”_ Hyunwoo says back. _“I’m serious, we gotta go. Kihyun’s getting too alert and if it keeps happening he won’t be able to go back to sleep and I don’t want him trying to bite my ass while I sleep again.”_

There’s the sound of a light slap. _“You can’t go around telling people that!”_

“As if he hadn’t told me before.” The older alpha laughs, and Kihyun makes yet another noise in protest. “Good luck settling that, I hope everything’s alright with you, Hyunwoo.”

 _“Yeah, yeah.”_ He says. “ _Goodnight Hoseok.”_

 _“Bye hyung!”_ Kihyun says loudly. _“Come to the wedding!”_

“The invitations weren’t sent yet.” He laughs.

 _“Come! And bring someone cute!”_ He giggles, and then there’s the sound of struggling, and the younger alpha playfully begging for mercy before the line cuts off.

Oh and what a monster he would have been, had they not broken up, to keep those two apart. If he and Hyunwoo had mated, married, then what would’ve happened with Kihyun? Most importantly, what would’ve happened with Hyunwoo?

God forbid he ever gets to find that out.

 

Next day when he walks into work, circles around his eyes darker than usual but concealed with makeup, hell seems to have broken loose.

He smells it before he sees it, an overbearing scent of numerous omegas. _Happy_ omegas.

He walks into the lobby, and he finds around ten omegas huddled in a corner, whispering to each other, and seeming to be trying to see something. He only realizes there’s some betas in there when he walks closer, the omegas’ scent masking them. He can even smell an alpha.

Actually, he can smell _three_ alphas. And when he realizes what the whole fuss is about when he recognizes two of them by their scent.

He walks past the omegas, and spots them talking to the receptionist. Minhyuk exhales the strong scent of scotch and cinnamon that along with his looks always have a trail of omegas and betas (and sometimes alphas) turning their heads as he walks by. Jooheon by his side smells of dark chocolate and mint, his scent strong, but forgotten as everyone has their attention on his boyfriend.

Their scents to Hoseok are almost overwhelming, both having a scent that’s a mix of more than one thing, and together, it’s a little too much _alpha_ to his nostrils.

“What are you guys doing here?” He questions as he walks up to them.

Minhyuk turns around as he hears his voice, and smiles wide. “Hyung!” He exclaims, and jumps into his arms for a hug. Jooheon follows suit after Minhyuk lets go of him.

“It’s nice to see you Hoseok-hyung.”

“Nice to see you too. But seriously, what are you doing here?”

“We have news.” Minhyuk jumps. “And we wanted to tell you in person.”

“Don’t you wanna come up to my office?” He asks, glancing at the commotion around the corner, all eyes on Minhyuk. Good think Jooheon doesn’t care. “For some privacy?”

“Sure!” The taller nods, black hair bouncing up and down as he smiles so wide his eyes wrinkle at the corners.

“Just let me…” Hoseok motions, then walks up to the crowd. “So are we going back to work or should I ask Bae Joohyun-sii what she thinks of this?” He points at them, and the horrified expression on their face at the mention of the HR Supervisor is hilarious. Everyone scrambles to get away and back to their offices and cubicles. Hoseok then turns back to his dongsaengs with a mischievous smile and and motions for the elevators.

He gets his keycard so they can use the employees only lift and they get in.

“So, what are these news you guys were so eager to tell us?”

Minhyuk bursts before Jooheon can even sit down. “We’re going to mate!” He exclaims.

Hoseok falls onto the chair. “What?!”

Jooheon smiles, and Minhyuk nods so fast he looks like a bobble head when you’re driving on a bumpy road. “We’re tying the knot.” He giggles. “Literally.”

 _“TMI.”_ Hoseok whines, clenching his eyes closed. “This is huge, guys. I’m so happy for you.” He smiles. “Wow, how long has it been?”

“Three years and four months.” They answer at the same time, then Jooheon looks at Minhyuk with loving eyes. Without even glancing at him, the older reaches out and intertwines their fingers.

“And they said it wasn’t going to work out between two alphas.” Hoseok clicks his tone. “Bullshit.”

“Whoever says those kind of shit doesn’t know the two alphas.” Jooheon says.

“Clearly.” Hoseok smiles. “This is so great. Let me hug you.” He says, then stands and power walks towards them, and hugs Minhyuk so tight he almost breaks in half, then he twirls him around. He drops him, then, and as the taller alpha wheezes, he walks to Jooheon and hugs him as well.

“Wonho-hyung.” Minhyuk calls. “We’re going to celebrate.”

Hoseok smiles. There are only three people who call him Wonho, a nickname he used to go by when he had a ulzzang phase during his teen years, and they are Minhyuk, Hyunwoo and Hyungwon.

“Today?”

Jooheon shakes his head. “We’re waiting for Hyungwon-hyung to come back from the Philippines.” He explains.

Hoseok perks up. “Speaking of which…” He smiles. “I’m going to the Philippines as well.”

“Oh? Business trip?” Minhyuk asks, and earns a nod from the older. “It’s a nice change. You usually go to Japan.”

“I’m going to Japan as well.” Hoseok mumbles. “Problem is I can’t speak tagalog. _Or_ english.”

“But Hyungwon’s there.” The taller alpha leans back. “Can’t he help? He speaks both languages.”

“We can’t bring in people who aren’t from Connect Inc. or the company we’re working with.” He sighs. “I’m gonna be so fucked if they expect me to speak any of those languages. What if I disappoint them? Am I gonna lose my job?”

Jooheon frowns.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Minhyuk rolls his eyes. “They can’t fire you for not knowing a language, dear. You speak enough japanese to be able to work with the companies in Japan, and they can’t fire you even if it’s a disappointment, ‘cause a lot of the businessmen know _you_ as the face of the company. Connect might lose clients if they let you go.”

“He’s right, hyung.” Adds the youngest alpha. “You shouldn’t worry too much. Just talk to them.”

“You think I should bite the bullet and tell them I don’t speak tagalog or english?” He asks with his brow furrowed.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Minhyuk shrugs. “Now, you go.” He says, and stands, offering his hand so Jooheon can take it and stand as well. “And we’re leaving ‘cause we still gotta go tell Honey’s mum.”

“You came to tell me before you told her?” Hoseok asks with a dumb smile.

“Of course!” Minhyuk waves his hand. “The company’s building is so much closer to our place than her house.” He adds with a shit eating grin, and Hoseok pretends to hit him, Jooheon giggles.

“I’ll take you guys to the lift.” He motions with his head.

“This feels so fancy.” Minhyuk comments.

“Nayeon, can you check to see if the COO is available for me to talk to him?” He asks her on his way.

“Sure thing, boss.” She gives him a thumbs up, then waves at Minhyuk and Jooheon as she takes the phone to call Jung Hoseok’s secretary.

He takes them to the lift, and hugs them before they walk in. They promise the celebration will only happen when both he and Hyungwon arrive from their trips — Minhyuk makes sure to add they can’t promise they won’t already have mated by them, to which Hoseok makes a point by pretending to vomit.

He walks back to his office, and finds Nayeon fidgeting.

“What’s up?” He asks.

“Well, I called, and his secretary said one of his mates had a small accident and is in the hospital with his other mate, so he went to meet the both of them there.” She says.

“Oh, that’s okay.” He shrugs. “I’ll just g-”

“Then she said the CFO could take you.” She interrupts. “He’s available, and already waiting.”

Hoseok swallows. There are only two people who directly respond to the CEO of the company — such CEO is only known as RM, and no one in Connect Inc. besides — the COO, and the CFO — has ways of getting in contact with him.

The CFO in question is someone he’s only had brief interactions with, and just like a lot of other people in the company, Lee Hoseok is terrified of him. Mostly he deals with Jung Hoseok, who he is always very happy to talk to.

With that thought and much lamenting in mind, he wishes COO Hoseok’s mate is okay, and walks to the elevator so he can go and meet Min Yoongi.

Min Yoongi’s secretary is very polite, and makes Hoseok less nervous. For a moment only, as he follows the secretary to the office, and he informs the CFO that Hoseok is here.

“You can let him in.” There’s the deep mumbly voice. “Thank you, Daeyeol.”

The secretary — Daeyeol — smiles at Hoseok, and waits for him to walk in before closing the door.

“Good morning, sir.” He bows respectfully.

“Good morning, Hoseok-ssi.” Nods the CFO. “Sit down, how can I help you?”

Hoseok does as asked, then he cleans his throat. “I have received an email about the trip.” He starts. “Informing me I’m going to the Philippines, as well as Japan, for the meetings.”

“Are you not available?” Asks the younger alpha.

“Not quite. I’m just worried about the language barrier.” He confesses. “Sir, I can’t speak filipino, nor english.”

Yoongi frowns, then his face turns into one of understanding. He smiles. “I think there’s been a problem of miscommunication.” He says. “Would you give me a moment?” He asks, and Hoseok nods, seeing the CFO act friendly making him at ease. Yoongi takes the phone and presses a button. “Daeyeol, would you please call the Design department and ask for Im Changkyun to come up? Thank you.”

Hoseok frowns, and Yoongi raises an eyebrow at his expression. “Im Changkyun, sir?” He asks carefully.

“Hoseok-ssi. We’re aware you’re not aquantainced with any of those languages.” He assures. “We didn’t meant to send you there blindly. I think maybe Hoseok forgot to inform, or maybe he thought you had already been made known, but you’re not travelling alone.”

“I’m not?”

Yoongi shakes his head. “We’ve requested for someone to come along and work as a translator.” He says.

Hoseok hears angels singing in the distance.

The older alpha glaces at the CFO’s table, and sees a framed picture of a cute male with dark hair, full lips and killing eye smile. Yoongi catches him looking, and smiles timidly at the picture. “That’s my mate.” He informs. “Jimin.”

“He’s very good looking, sir.” Hoseok says, no malice in his voice.

Yoongi nods. “I know.”

There’s a moment of silence, then a knock on the door, and Daeyeol’s head pops in. “Sir? Im Changkyun is here to see you.”

“Let him in. Thank you Daeyeol.” Yoongi smiles, and it’s a gummy smile that looks so odd and kid-like on the face of someone Hoseok’s been afraid of before.

Then in walks the beta boy, looking curious rather than confused — what Hoseok thought he’d be — and he looks between the two alphas timidly before bowing and greeting them. Yoongi motions for him to sit next to Hoseok, which he promptly does, catching the publicist’s gaze, not faltering for a second as he holds it and his expression doesn’t change in the slightest. Hoseok feels almost in trance, staring into the dark pupils, until the CFO hums to himself.

“Now, Changkyun-ssi has been made aware of it before, so this is no surprise for him, but since there was a miscommunication issue, let’s clear things up.” He says it looking at Hoseok, then his eye shift and he glances at both of them, alternating as he says his next words. “Changkyun-ssi is travelling along with you.” He states.

Hoseok’s lips part automatically, ready to ask, state, argue, but nothing comes out, as he honestly has no idea what’s happening.

The graphic designer looks between the two of them and looks at Yoongi like he’s not sure how to act.

“Okay…” The oldest alpha starts slowly. “May I ask why?”

“I’m gonna be your translator.” Changkyun explains.

“What?” Hoseok’s expression is still dumbfounded.

“You know we have this policy about not bringing in anyone who’s not from the company to our business, of any kind. And so it happens that Changkyun-ssi speaks english, tagalog and apanese.”

Hoseok raises his eyebrows and he looks at the beta, not sure what to say. “Okay. I understand, then.” He finally lets out. “I’m sorry for my confusion.”

“It’s perfectly understandable.” Says Yoongi, a sympathetic look on his face.

Changkyun’s looking at Hoseok a bit weirdly when the phone suddenly rings, and Yoongi apologizes as he picks it up. He talks briefly to the other person, and the two employees try to hold back their reactions as they realize the person he’s talking to is RM.

“I’m sorry, I have to take this.” He tells the two of them. “If that’d be all… Otherwise you can email me, and we’ll discuss whatever else there is to be discussed.”

“No, that’ll be all. Thank you, sir.” Hoseok stands, and bows, and Changkyun follows suit.

They walk out once they’re dismissed, and after they’ve waved goodbye to Daeyeol, inside the lift, the publicist turns to Changkyun with a frown. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming along with me if you knew?”

The beta takes a step back, looking almost offended. “I received an email telling me I was gonna go on a trip, so I emailed Jung Hoseok-nim about it and he asked me to visit his office the next day so he could explain. So I went and he told me what was up.” He explains. “I didn’t go behind your back, I just assumed you knew.”

Hoseok sighs. “Didn’t you think I’d maybe contact you if I did, in fact, know, Changkyun-ssi?”

“Well, I’m sorry sunbae-nim, but I don’t exactly know you.” He almost snaps, and the alpha takes a metaphorical step back, realizing he’s right. He wouldn’t have a way of knowing, he and Hoseok should be getting acquainted with each other, as his boss had told him to, and he was right it was going to be needed for the wellbeing of this contract. They were going to travel together, they needed to be comfortable around one another, but Hoseok’s been failing his mission.

“You’re right.” He says. “Do you wanna sit with me at lunch today?”

“You mean… Sit at the table with me?” The other says, holding back a smile, his tone almost mocking at the mental image of a pristine Lee Hoseok sitting with the other graphic designers. “Are you okay, sunbae-nim?”

“I thought maybe you could sit at my table? I mean… Nayeon will be there, and you know her. I don’t know anyone from your friends.” He scratches the back of his neck.

“Well… I guess.” Changkyun makes a face. “If we’re gonna have to do this, we might as well. Right?”

“Yes.” Hoseok straightens his suit jacket. “We might as well.

He’s missed his floor, forgetting to press the button, so now they’re at Changkyun’s, and he walks out with a small “See you later, sunbae-nim.” leaving Hoseok to stand there wondering what this company wants from him. Do they want him to go crazy?

 

Lunch comes earlier than expected. For Hoseok, at least. He walks alongside Nayeon as they decide to take the stairs down to the canteen, since it’s easier than waiting for a lift during lunch time.

Changkyun’s already down there, on the line to order his food, and he spots Hoseok and Nayeon as they walk in. He smiles at them, and they wave back.

Hoseok has Nayeon go to the table with her cousin as he waits for their food, not wanting the beta to stay there alone with his friends and feel awkward. Though as he walks there with his and Nayeon’s lunch, he doesn’t seem to be having much problem with it. They’re all talking like old colleagues.

“Boss, you didn’t tell us you were bringing company for lunch.” Jongdae says with a cheeky smile.

“Sorry, I didn’t know I had to keep you all updated on all my choices.” He says sarcastically, passing Nayeon her tray and sitting next to Changkyun, who’s between himself and his cousin. “Have they been bothering you too much?”

The beta looks up and pushes up his glasses with his finger. “Just noona.” He says, and earns an elbow to the ribs from Nayeon. “Ouch!”

“This is what I get for introducing you?” She inquires with mock anger on her tone.

“Yes.” The youngest replies.

Seokjin laughs to himself, sitting across Nayeon.

“You two really are from the same family.” Comments Jongdae, and Changkyun smiles at that.

“So, any news?” Asks Nayeon, playing with her food.

“Yes, actually.” Hoseok says, matter-of-factly, he puts down the glass on his hand and looks at her. “Me and Changkyun are going in the trip together.”

Jongdae frowns. “What?” He looks between the both of them. “Why?”

“Is it actually Japan?” Seokjin questions.

“Japan. As well as the Philippines.” He answers. “Changkyun is apparently multilingual, so he’s coming along to make me look like less of a fool.”

“Or worse.” Comments the boy quietly, but Hoseok hears of course, and glances at him to find him smiling mischievously, even if a bit shy, and he smiles back. They can make this work.

Luckily, his friends grow some sense, because they don’t interrogate the beta like Hoseok thought they might, just talk to him like he’s just about anyone else who works at the company, which he is, but when it comes to annoying Hoseok, those three are able to go a long way.

Changkyun leaves early claiming he has a design he needs to finish, and it’s due in some hours, so they wave him goodbye as he walks away, and the publicist takes that as a cue to leave as well, not wishing at all to have his friends being annoying now that the beta is gone. He runs even if they jokingly tell him to stop being a coward and face them.

Later on, just when the shift is about to end, he asks Nayeon if she could give him her cousin’s number. She doesn’t ask any questions, for once, probably aware this is more of a business thing than personal.

So hours later, around nine, Hoseok gets the courage to text the graphic designer. He messages informing that (1) it’s him, (2) good evening, (3) he thought it would be a good idea to have a way of getting in contact with each other since they’ll be travelling together so he asked Nayeon for his number, and (4) it’s raining.

Changkyun reads it almost right away, but only replies five minutes later, and Hoseok is confused, but assumes that’s another add-on to how weird the kid actually is. But he’s nice and casual as he texts back, and for that at least the alpha is thankful. He seems to be making an effort as well. He remembers how, even if being nice and polite during lunch, the boy looked stiff, like he was uncomfortable but good at masking it. Hoseok wasn’t going to make him go through that again if that was the case, and since the beta was a lot more casual and easy going when texting, this was the best alternative.

He explains he’ll be trying to update his work as much as he can since they’re going on Monday, which is only three days away, and they’re going to be away for a good seven days probably, so he doesn’t want to lose the time he already doesn’t have. Changkyun understands, and says he should probably do the same, and agrees with Hoseok when he says they can still get to know each other through texting.

And they do.

It starts off awkward, not sure of what to ask each other. They talk about music first, and Changkyun explains he mostly likes western groups, and Hoseok calls him a hipster. The boy also tells him the reason he ever wanted to learn tagalog in the first place was because he was obsessed with a filipino band called Kamikazee when he was younger, and eventually he did learn it. English and japanese he learned when younger, due to his dad’s job and in school. Hoseok’s life feels a lot less interesting as he tells Changkyun he mostly just listens to what’s on the radio, which feels kinda odd since when younger he used to be a lot into music. He also explains he’d learned japanese in school, and he’s not great at it.

They text sporadically for a good two hours, until Hoseok says he should get ready for bed before it’s too late. Changkyun politely wishes him a good night, and there’s that.

Hoseok doesn’t see the beta at work the next day, mostly due to the fact he stays in his office and has a sandwich he brought from home as lunch. The publicist updates everything he can, to make sure Nayeon and Seokjin will be able to do things as smoothly as possible while he’s away.

Changkyun texts him three little emojis when the older lets him know he won’t be going down to the canteen, a man, a computer, and a dizzy emoji. It makes the alpha giggle to himself.

 

The weekend passes by so fast it’s like a cough. Hoseok stays home, and only interacts with other people through texts and phone calls. He considers calling Changkyun, having the thought in his mind that phone calls are more intimate than texting, which would make them feel more comfortable around each other, hopefully. Then he remembers how awkward he gets sometimes around the graphic designer, and brushes off the idea.

Monday comes, and the struggle to get out of bed at five in the morning is real. Don’t get him wrong, Hoseok is used to waking up at a little before six every day for walks before breakfast and work, but knowing you’re waking up to take a plane is always a pain in the butt. He sits up with his face swollen and fabric marks on his cheek from his bedsheets, and zombie-walks to the bathroom so he’ll look presentable enough.

The night before, he’d offered to pick up Changkyun with the uber driver, knowing the younger isn’t used to travelling for work related stuff, and that he’s most probably struggling to get things done, and it’ll be a lot harder to do them on his own.

Changkyun sleeps on their way to the airport, his head thrown back on the car seat’s headrest and his lips parted as he travels in the land of dreams. It’s short lived, of course, since it takes them less than half an hour to get there, but he still lets the younger cling to the hopes of rest for a little longer.

Hoseok carries most of the bags out of the car, dismissing Changkyun’s offer to help, seconds before the beta is tripping on his own feet due to sleepiness. He snorts at him, and the younger glares.

They check in, and it all goes smoothly. Hoseok sits on the waiting room near the boarding gates while Changkyun gets himself some breakfast in the nearest coffee shop. He comes back with a croissant, his face already a bit crumbly, and the alpha points it out, smiling when the younger wipes his face and then proceeds to get more crumbs on it after another bite and gives up.

“Clean up when you’re done Changkyun-ssi, there’s no way you can eat a pastry without getting stuff all over yourself.” Hoseok tells him, voice soft due to the quietness of the place and sleep still clinging to his bones.

“You want a bite?” The younger offers, moving the pastry in his hand a bit closer to Hoseok as he sips his latte.

“No, thank you. I’ve had breakfast already.”

“What did you eat?” Questions the beta, pushing his specs up the bridge of his nose with his pointer finger.

“A banana shake, and yogurt with granola.”

Changkyun grimaces at the thought of such a healthy food, and Hoseok chuckles.

They sit in silence, then. Changkyun pops on his earbuds, and starts listening to music as he scrolls through his phone, his croissant now gone, latte soon to follow. Hoseok fiddles with his plane ticket and his passport, humming to himself as he anxiously waits for their gate to open and the flight to be announced.

It happens, finally, and there’s the fuss to find their seats and put away their backpacks over their seats before they’re finally able to calm down.

“How long is the flight again?” Hoseok asks, sighing.

“About four hours. Give or take.” Changkyun replies, taking one of the safety pamphlets and scanning his eyes over it. “Excited to go?”

“Yeah…” The alpha mumbles half-heartedly.

They wait for a while, until everyone’s seated, until the plane is ready, and then it takes off, and Hoseok isn’t a big fan of this part, so he just clamps his eyes shut and waits for it to be over.

“You okay?” Changkyun questions when they’re on air, and the plane isn’t shaking anymore.

“Fine. I just get a little… anxious when the plane takes off.”

“That’s understandable.” The younger reassures. “I wish I could’ve brought Jamie.” He pouts. “I have a feeling she’d like the Philippines.”

Hoseok glances at him. “Why is that?”

“She likes it when I speak tagalog to her. She walks around the cage like crazy, it’s cute.” He smiles fondly. “And she does this.” He scrunches up his nose and tries to move it like a rodent, and Hoseok snorts.

“What does she look like?” He asks quietly, liking the atmosphere between them, no awkwardness involved.

“She’s grey and white. She’s a Dwarf Campbell Russian Hamster, so she’s tiny, but she’s got a strong personality.”

“Oh.” Hums the alpha. “She sounds cute.”

“She is.” The younger pouts yet again. “I miss her.”

Hoseok nods, and that’s about the end of the interaction. They end up dozing off for almost an hour, bored out of their minds. Hoseok wakes up to find the younger already awake, reading a baby blue book.

“Hello.” He mumbles, voice hoarse from sleep.

“Good morning.” The younger greets. “Sleep well?”

“Nope.” Hoseok groans, rolling his neck and hearing something pop. “I hate sleeping in planes.”

“It’s because you’re so big. I bet it’s hard to get comfortable.” Changkyun says calmly, still reading his book, so he misses the way Hoseok blushes.

The older’s embarrassment is interrupted by the sound of someone shouting. An alpha. He’s using his alpha voice to talk down to the omega by his side, who seems to be submitting a little too easily. Hoseok assumes they might be mated.

“Can you imagine being mated to someone like that?” The beta by his side says, and Hoseok turns his head to look at him at the seriousness in his tone. Changkyun’s face is hard, like he’s actually irritated as he watches the scene. “An alpha who thinks they own the world just because their dick grows a bump when they get hard.” He scoffs. “I’d rather get struck by lightning.”

Hoseok swallows around the lump in his throat, and his eyes widen in the slightest. That’s exactly what he hates in alpha stereotypes as well, the way they act like they own the place, and how he’d never fit into the harshness of the perfect literary alpha. Though the way Changkyun talks about it, the rage in his eyes as he looks at the alpha making a scene, makes Hoseok feel guilty of something he hasn’t done.

The beta has bite, he’s definitely Nayeon’s cousin.

 

“Feels a bit weird to be arriving here and knowing what I have to do next is attend meetings.” Changkyun confesses as they walk through the gates, all luggage in hands and neck pillows hanging from their arms. “How do you cope with it?”

“You get used to it.” Hoseok shrugs, feeling the stiffness of his muscles from sleeping on the plane seat.

Changkyun frowns at the idea, but doesn’t add anything else.

“Let’s order an uber.” The alpha suggests when they’re near the doors once everything had been checked and they were ready to leave for the hotel.

“They don’t have uber here.” Says the younger. “They’ve got something called Grab.”

“Is it good?”

Changkyun makes a face. “Not really.”

“It’s all we have, though, isn’t it?” Hoseok sighs.

“Either that or a taxi, and Grab is a lot more expensive.”

“Okay, I’m gonna download the app then.”

The shorter whips out his phone, and unlocks it. “I’m one step ahead of you.” He chuckles. “I downloaded it at home.”

The older raises his eyebrows in pleasant surprise, and takes upon himself to look around while Changkyun orders the ride.

“You’ve got the pesos, right?” The younger asks, glancing down at the phone. “He’ll be here any second.”

The alpha hums, and they start walking towards the gates.

“God, it’s so hot in here.” Hoseok whines, not even a second outside of the air conditioner.

“It’s spring here, I don’t know what you were expecting, sunbaenim.” The younger points out. “I told you you should bring summer clothes.”

“I did, thank god.” The older huffs.

The driver is there soon, Changkyun greets him in tagalog with Hoseok watching curiously, and they put their stuff in the booth with a bit of difficulty, but eventually they’re set to be taken to the hotel.

“Do you wanna go out to eat something or lunch at the hotel?” Asks Changkyun.

“I think I’m too tired to go out to eat today.” The older male sighs, closing his eyes briefly. “You can go without me though, if you want.”

The graphic designer shakes his head. “No, I’m okay. I just want to eat, shower and then sleep for decades.” He groans softly. “Do you think they got us a shared room?”

Hoseok shakes his head. “I doubt it. But we might be neighbours.”

Turns out they’re not.

Both rooms are the same size, as it was told by the receptionist, but Hoseok’s is two floors up from Changkyun’s room. They can’t tell if the company just didn’t book for them to be nearby, or if it was something bugging on the hotel’s system, but it’s not a huge deal for them, so they just agree to meet in the lobby in forty minutes and take the lift. Hoseok waves Changkyun farewell when the younger walks off to his room.

The room is standard, a double bed, TV, a dresser and bedside tables. Hoseok lets go of his luggage, letting them fall to the floor, and falls face-first onto the bed.

He’s nervous, for some reason. Maybe the fact he’s in a foreign country and he can’t for the life of him speak neither english or filipino, and maybe it’s because of all that, and the fact Changkyun’s there too.

Hoseok tries to take his mind off nervousness. He takes a quick shower, messages Minhyuk and Hyunwoo on Kakao to let them know he’s at the hotel already, and unpacks the stuff he’ll be needing soon.

Then he takes his keycard, and walks off the door. Hoseok knows he’s a couple minutes too early, and that Changkyun might be a couple minutes late, since they agreed to meet in forty minutes and none of them were counting down the time.

Changkyun’s arrives at the lobby only a minute after Hoseok. They greet each other briefly before Changkyun asks around for directions to the hotel’s restaurant area. They find their way, and soon they’re serving themselves in the buffet, with many dishes displayed, Changkyun mostly explaining what he understands from the little plaques so that Hoseok will get an idea of what he’s putting on his plate.

Once they’re sitting down in front of each other, the beta chuckles to himself. “Everyone’s looking at you.” He tells the older, glancing at him through his specs.

Hoseok looks around like a lost puppy, noticing some heads turned in his direction. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Besides alpha, handsome and wealthy, no.” The younger says with a snort. “I guess people don’t see a full package that often.”

Hoseok doesn’t know how to react. Normally those words would sound to him as a compliment, but coming from Changkyun, in that tone and in that occasion, the alpha wonders if he should be offended.

He chooses to say nothing.

They eat mostly in silence, with Hoseok looking around curiously, and Changkyun raising his eyebrows as the older has his cheeks full with food and big wide eyes like a bunny, completely uncharacteristic of an alpha.

Once they’re both done eating, they have a quite awkward conversation about any plans for the day, and they settle for looking around the hotel, and then checking with the company they’d be meeting to make sure things are going according to plan and they’ll be able to have the meeting the next day.

The hotel is pretty basic, nothing too extravagant since they’re only planning to stay for three days if all goes well.

They mostly stay in their rooms, and Hoseok sits on the bed watching TV pretending he can speak either english or filipino, and soon giving up to watch dramas on his phone.

Once he gets bored, which is around four in the afternoon, he goes down to the lobby thinking of getting a snack in one of those bar-like things that sell local sweets and such. And as he’s walking by the patio, he sees some people sitting on picnic tables, reading, and some eating and chatting, and Changkyun can be see far away from them, back against a column, smoking.

Hoseok squints his eyes, and sighs, continuing his trail to the sweets bar.

 

“Did you really bring these here?” Asks a voice, and Changkyun looks over his shoulder, surprised, but also _not._

“Yeah, I guess I did.” Answers the beta, looking down at the stick between his fingers.

“You need to stop this.” Hoseok says. “It’s not good for you.”

“We’re all dying, what’s the matter?”

“Taking the shortcut isn’t the answer to dealing with imminent doom.” Scolds the publicist. “I thought you were trying to quit.”

Changkyun shrugs. “I’m bad at it.”

“You don’t seem to be trying much.” The older pushes. “Please stop with this.”

“Why are you so bothered? I’m not smoking around you.” Scoffs the beta, blowing the smoke on the older’s face, who coughs and takes a step back, fanning the air with his hand.

“‘Cause I worry about you, kid.” Hoseok presses.

Changkyun frowns, and stares at him without saying another word.

The older raises a hand and showcases a lollipop he has in hands, and Changkyun glances at it.

“Why don’t we try quitting for real from now on?” He suggests, and offers the palm of his empty hand beside the other hand that holds up the candy.

Changkyun looks at Hoseok, then at the lollipop and his empty hand, and smiles minimally to himself. He takes the lollipop, and offers the cigarette to the older with the tip up so he won’t burn himself.

Hoseok puts the stick off on the ashtray and throws it away in the bin while Changkyun unwraps his lollipop and smiles bigger at the green colored candy.

“Is it lemon?” He asks, smelling it.

“Green apple.” The older corrects. “Do you not like it?”

The beta shakes his head timidly, and puts the lollipop in his mouth. “I like it.” He assures.

Hoseok offers they both sit on a picnic table and chat since they’re both out of things to do and Changkyun agrees with a shrug.

It ends up being a good idea, since they end up talking about Changkyun’s teenage love for the band Kamikazee, and how he’s the exact opposite of filipino people idolizing kpop stars.

“So you go as far as learning their language just because you’re _that_ into them. I think that’s notorious.” The older comments.

“Well at least it got me to learning another language. Their songs were amazing and I needed to be able to get them without having to read translations. When you’re in love with songs like that just reading translations isn’t enough sometimes.” Explains the beta.

The way his eyes shine when he says that makes Hoseok smile, like he’s a kid meeting someone dressed as their favorite character.

“So it’s like being in love?” Questions the older, his chin resting on his hand as he watches Changkyun speaking.

The younger pauses, and frowns slightly. “I’m not sure.” He admits. “I think I’ve been in love before, but then when I stop to think about it I wonder if I’m right.”

Hoseok understands.

They have dinner together at the restaurant in the hotel again, and Changkyun glances at the sky and sighs, hoping the clouds don’t mean a flood in Quezon City for them to have to cross the next day.

Each of them go to their respective rooms after dinner and a light conversation that stretches until they’re biding their goodbyes in the lift.

Hoseok sleeps fairly well considering it’s his first night at the strange place, trying not to be nervous at tomorrow’s meeting, and how well he and Changkyun will pull it off.

When he wakes up the next day, it’s seven o’clock, and he feels like new for sleeping that much. He gets up and calls Changkyun, having a feeling the younger isn’t exactly an early bird — Hoseok’s not judging, really, he isn’t, but Changkyun totally looks like the type to stay up late playing games or watching series (or like, anime) and missing the time in the morning —, and he’s proved right when the younger picks up with a groan and takes a few seconds to register every word the alpha says to him.

Then the publicist goes to the bathroom, and does his usual morning hygiene routine. He changes into comfortable yet presentable clothes, just to go down and have breakfast, and walks out of the room.

And again, he’s not judging, but he guesses Changkyun is also not one for breakfast, so he goes two floors down where he knows Changkyun’s room is, and prays his memory didn’t fail him and he’s not knocking on a stranger’s door. Man, he can’t speak a word of filipino, he wouldn’t even be able to apologize. He should really ask Changkyun to teach him the basics.

But then the beta opens the door, looking like a zombie, glaring at the alpha so deeply the older flinches. “Good morning.” He tries.

“Good for _you.”_ Changkyun groans, turning around and walking back into his room. Hoseok blushes as he realizes the younger sleeps only in boxers, and that he’s thankfully wearing a shirt. He’s only human, and the boy is good looking.

“Put some clothes on, we’re gonna have breakfast.” Hoseok says from the door.

The beta looks over his shoulder with an annoyed frown, scowling at the other man in a good mood this early in the morning, when it took a whole of ten minutes for himself to remember he’s not in South Korea, not hearing the constant but soothing sound of Jamie incessantly running on her wheel. He’s not a morning person, but his hamster is. A morning hamster, that is.

“Come in, close the door.” He motions, flailing his arm tiredly and rubbing his eye with his fist.

The older does so, and walks into the room, sitting himself on the armchair by the corner of the room, next to the balcony. He likes this room better, Hoseok decides, closer to the floor, so looking out from the balcony scares him a little less.

“What time is the meeting again?” The younger mumbles out, sitting on the edge of the bed directly in front of Hoseok, frown still on.

“At ten.”

The graphic designer holds himself back from hitting the older, knowing that’d be disrespectful, he’s too tired to fight, and stands 0 chances against him.

“Why are we awake this early, then, Hoseok-ssi? The meeting is in a whole three hours.” He whines, not caring that he sounds like a kid. He likes sleep, goddammit, who does this alpha thinks he is to deprive him from his dear bed?

“‘Cause I knew you’d take a time to get up, and then we have to have breakfast, and get ready, and then there’s traffic, and we should arrive there at nine.”

“Why nine?”

“It shows professionalism to arrive an hour early.”

“Or they’ll think we’re trying too hard.” The younger suggests, once again rubbing his eye. When he brings it down there’s an eyelash on his cheek, and Hoseok refrains from saying anything about it.

“Whatever. Once they get to know me, they won’t think that.” The older shrugs. “So go get ready, Changkyun-ah. The world is your oyster!”

“Yeah, yeah, dancing queen, seventeen, tambourine, I know all that.” He mumbles, walking into the bathroom.

“That’s from Mamma Mia!” Hoseok laughs.

“It’s ABBA, Hoseok-ssi.” Changkyun retorts from inside the bathroom. The faucet starts running, and Hoseok sits back against the armchair, claiming victory.

 

Breakfast is considerably quiet, since the younger is still half asleep, but Hoseok makes sure he’s at least eating some fruit and not just cereal, and that he’s not falling asleep in his bowl.

Afterwards, they go to their rooms to change, and Hoseok reminds the younger he needs to dress to impress; which means formally; which means a suit. Changkyun mumbles about it, but both of them know he’ll wear it.

They meet in the lobby at around eight thirty, and Hoseok rushes Changkyun to call an uber — _it’s called Grab, sunbae —_ quickly so they won’t wait too long.

It’s a bit useless, though, since the first two drivers seem not to like them, for whatever reason. Maybe it’s their destination, maybe it’s because of traffic, but they wouldn’t be able to know. Eventually, though, they find a driver that doesn’t hate them by gut feeling, and get on their way.

“See? This is why we should be early.” Hoseok says to the beta.

“No need to rub it on my face. You woke me up at seven, give me a break.” Changkyun complains with a frown, his eyes closed.

“You should’ve gone to bed early.” Hoseok scolds.

“I’m jet lagged.” The younger retorts.

“We’re an hour behind.”

“And it’s taken a toll on me.” He sniffs dramatically, wiping an inexistent tear, and Hoseok giggles.

Changkyun says something in _taglish_ to the driver, who answers alike, and soon they arrive.

The whole time, from the moment they enter the building, to the moment they walk out of it, Hosek feels alien.

It’s not like he’s not used to being in a foreign country, because he is, but this time he feels like a toddler. He needs to be explained everything, he’s left out of friendly jokes made by PR Supervisor, that translated don’t have the same effect. The meeting goes well, and Changkyun assumes such a professional and yet friendly behaviour Hoseok is thrown off by it, not knowing who’s this boy that possessed the body of the beta graphic designer that wears Chuck Taylors almost all the time and glasses that make him look infinitely more precious and smart than he already is.

Long story short, they get the deal. Details to be settled, they’ll have the conversation through emails, but the three main heads of the company are pleased with them and the deal they’ve arranged, and that’s what matters.

“That went surprisingly smooth.” Changkyun comments as they walk out of the building, already loosening his tie.

“I felt like a kid through the whole thing.” Hoseok grumbles. “You all talked business in english and joked in filipino and I sat there with my korean and mediocre japanese wondering why I even came.”

“You came because I’m just the graphic designer who speaks multiple languages. This deal is yours, Hoseok-ssi.” Changkyun says like it’s all very obvious — because it is — and smiles teasingly at the alpha. “You were charming even if you didn’t speak their language, could’ve caught some of the omegas and alphas easily.” He elbows the older.

Hoseok brings in his massive shoulders, feeling uncomfortable. “I’d rather not.” He says quietly.

“They were all good looking though.” The blond mutters. “Not your type?”

“I haven’t dated in a while, wouldn’t like for my next relationship to be with someone I can’t even talk to.”

“Isn’t it better for alphas though if they don’t have to bother talking to the person?” The younger says in a tone Hoseok doesn’t like. “All you big boss knotted dick people need is a hole to fuck.”

“It matters to me.” The older says stubbornly. He doesn’t like this conversation. He has to defend himself from being like that and yet by doing so he admits to be a failure as an alpha. Not that he should care, considering the alpha stereotype sounds terrible to him, and he’d much rather not be it, but admitting to fail at being who you are leaves a bitter aftertaste, always.

“What I means is” The beta starts again. “I wasn’t talking about a relationship. Just have fun.”

“I don’t really enjoy one night stands.” He confesses, and Changkyun eyes him weirdly.

“That’s odd.” He says. “But I’m not surprised since it’s you saying that.”

“Why? Because I’m not a real alpha?” The older questions, putting up all his defenses to protect himself from being hurt by the younger’s next words.

“Nah.” Changkyun smiles, friendly. “Because you’re what a real alpha actually is. And that’s rare.”

The publicist feels his face heat up, and looks down at the pavement trying to suppress a smile.

Maybe the beta doesn’t hate him, after all.

“Let’s have lunch.” Suggests the younger. “I know a place.”

There’s a snort, and Hoseok smiles. “Of course you do.”

Not long after, they’re at Conti’s, and Hoseok ogles at the cakes in the glass stands like his life depends on it.

“What are you ordering?” Changkyun asks with an amused look on his face. “For _lunch._ You can have the cakes later, Hoseok-ssi.”

“Uh… I have no idea. I’m not sure what these dishes are, and this is in english.” He waves the menu around. “What are you ordering?”

“Kare Kare with Shrimp Paste.” The beta smiles. “I really like it, but I don’t know if you would.”

“Order something for me, then.” He settles the menu on the table and puts his hands over it. “I trust you.”

“Oh do you?” Changkyun laughs. “Okay then… I’m getting you the Roast Beef in Mushroom Sauce and a Mango Royale Salad.” He glances up at Hoseok. “Sounds good?”

The older nods. “I like it.”

“What do you want to drink?” Asks the beta as he scans the list of sweets and cakes in the menu curiously, already planning the dessert.

“Just water for me.”

“I’ll have orange juice.” Changkyun hums. “Don’t feel like having soda.”

“Good. That much sugar’s not healthy.”

“Want to see you saying that when we’re getting dessert.” The younger smirks. “So.” He starts. “Any more plans for today?”

“Do you wanna go sightseeing?” Hoseok asks. “I don’t really have anything in mind.”

“So we’re free?” The younger’s face lights up. “We can do anything?”

The publicist shrugs. “Sure.”

 

About an hour later, Hoseok’s following the beta around like a puppy, walking around in TriNoma mall with curious eyes. It surprises him that the younger sometimes seems to be as lost as him, but considering travelling around in this mall seems to be a bit of a hassle, he doesn’t blame Changkyun. The floor panelling is weird, to say the least, but the place is pretty, and the alpha enjoys the aesthetic of it.

“I wish I could light one up right now.” Changkyun confesses, almost vibrating in excitement about being there. “I can’t believe I’m here at the same time as my favorite writer. In the _same mall_ his signing event is taking place.”

Hoseok reaches into his pocket and takes out a lollipop, and hands it to Changkyun, who eyes it curiously before taking it and starting to unwrap it.

“I’m glad I came with you, then, if this is an unique opportunity to you.” He chuckles.

“Are you producing these now?” Questions the graphic designer jokingly.

“Just wanted to make sure you’d stick with quitting.” The alpha shrugs.

The younger thanks him quietly, and they walk side by side.

“I have a friend who’s in a trip here too. It’s kind of a work trip as well.” The alpha mutters, making small talk as they try to find the area where the signing is taking place.

“Really? That’s a coincidence.” The beta chirps. “Are you gonna meet up with him?”

“I don’t think so. We only have one more day here and he’s busy with work too, I think it’s easier to wait ‘till he goes back home in a week or so.” Shrugs the older. “So, what’s this book about anyways?”

He can see the way Changkyun’s body language completely changes as he gets excited about explaining it to Hoseok.

“It’s an _amazing_ book. The author is my absolute favorite. I named Jamie after the main character of the book.” He explains, a slight lisp due to the candy in his mouth.

Hoseok purses his lips. That sounds familiar.

“What’s the book about?”

“Oh, it’s a comedy! It’s about this filipino beta girl and it’s basically her life and the book is introspective. It’s mostly her observing people as her life goes by and her vision of them. And it’s so goddamn funny. It also makes fun of gender roles and mostly alpha behaviour. It’s genius.”

The alpha’s breath hitches.

“Look! There it is!” Changkyun jumps excitedly with the lollipop in hands, waving it around, and trots over to where a queue has formed in front of a large table. There’s decorations around with the book’s cover. All announcing it’s a best seller, how many copies it sold in the Philippines alone, and then in the whole world.

And Hoseok wonders how the universe could play him like that when he stares at the real sized cut out of his best friend, Hyungwon.

“Are you okay, Hoseok-ssi?” The beta next to him questions as he picks up a book and hands the lady some cash to pay for it. “I brought my book, but I want to keep the signed copy unused just in case.” He explains when the older shoots an inquisitive look.

“I’m fine.” He sighs. “Just a little surprised.”

“Why? Did you know the book?” Questions the younger with a curious expression.

“I did, actually. Yeah.” He nods, uncertain. “Let’s get in line before it gets too long.”

“You don’t have to stay.” Changkyun says.

Hoseok shakes his head. “I want to.”

So they wait next to each other, Changkyun with an excited smile on his face, lollipop long gone, and Hoseok looking around in amazement. He’s never been to one of Hyungwon’s bigger events before, especially in the Philippines, where he’s most famous at.

It takes a while, but eventually they get to Hyungwon, whose eyes light up in surprise, but he smiles when he sees Hoseok.

“Hyung!” He exclaims, standing to pull the older into a hug. “Why didn’t you say you were coming?” He asks.

Hoseok smiles against his shoulder. His tall skinny frame enveloping him and contrasting with his shorter and built body, and his amazing gardenia scent filling Hoseok’s nose deliciously, the alpha in him comforted by the omega naturally.

“I didn’t know until a few minutes ago.” He shrugs as they pull away. “This is my coworker Im Changkyun, he’s a fan, and I didn’t know he was _your_ fan until we got here.” He laughs.

Hyungwon smiles towards Changkyun, wide, and the younger looks so confused.

“I’m sorry, I’m not being polite. I’m Chae Hyungwon, nice to meet you.”

“It’s very nice to meet you too, Hyungwon-nim!” The younger quips. “You two know each other?” He asks after a small pause.

“Yeah! Since we were preteens. Wonho-hyung was my first crush when I was twelve.” Hyungwon explains, sitting back down and offering a hand so Changkyun will give him the book. “Okay, Im Changkyun-ssi, would you like me to write anything special?”

“You can just write it for me and my hamster Jamie.”

“You named your hamster after my Jamie?” Hyungwon’s jaw falls. “That’s amazing.”

“Not as amazing as your book!” Changkyun smiles wide. “(K)Not What You Think is the funniest and most self aware story I’ve read. It’s my favorite.” He says the last part timidly, and Hoseok snorts as he’s reminded of the pun in the book’s name — Minhyuk’s idea which had actually been a joke.

“Thank you. It’s very nice to hear you like it so much.” Hyungwon smiles as he signs the inside of the book’s hard cover, and then the first page where he’s dedicated the book to his family and each one of his friends, where he referred to Hoseok as Shin Wonho — his ulzzang name — as a joke. “I’m honored to have a hamster named after my character.”

“I’m honored to have her named after your amazing character.” He smiles. “Thank you for making her a beta, by the way. It made me feel included.”

“That was actually Wonho-hyung’s idea.” Hyungwon glances at the older with a small smile as he hands Changkyun the book.

The graphic designer looks up at him in surprise, and Hoseok looks away awkwardly.

“We won’t have time to meet up here, we’re leaving to Japan tomorrow.” Hoseok tells the omega. “But I’ll see you at Jooheon and Minhyuk’s in a week, right?”

“Absolutely.” Hyungwon smiles. “Nice to see you, hyung.” He waves. “And very glad to meet you, Changkyun-ssi. Let’s eat together some day.”

Changkyun nods rapidly, a shy smile and wide eyes on his face. Hoseok snorts, and they wave Hyungwon goodbye before walking off.

“I can’t believe you’re Shin Wonho.” The beta says after a while, and Hoseok groans.

“That’s a joke.” He explains.

“I’ve known the guy my favorite book’s been dedicated to all this time, and I wasn’t aware.” Says the shorter to himself with slight annoyance.

“You couldn’t have known.” The older pats his shoulder.

Changkyun sighs, and brushes his blond hair away from his face. “I guess.” He mutters. “I want ice cream. Let’s go to Jollibee.”

“Jolly-what?” Hoseok asks with a frown.

“You’re unbelievable, Hoseok-ssi.” Changkyun sighs with a smile and shake of his head. “Come on.”

It turns out Jollibee is a famous fast food place in the Philippines, locally more famous than McDonalds, and according to Changkyun it also has better food.

Hoseok gets himself a salted caramel sundae, and the beta chooses a Hershey Kisses “Mix-In” (it’s basically a McFlurry but it looks prettier and Changkyun glares at him when he says that).

“So you actually think Hyungwon’s lame jokes are funny.” Says the alpha casually.

“Yeah! They’re hilarious. Especially when Jamie jokes around the stuff she learns in school. I crack up.”

Hoseok looks skeptical.

“Really! It’s fun.” Changkyun insists. “Let me give you an example.”

“There’s no need.”

“What did the epithelial cell say to the cell it shares a gap junction with?” He questions with a wide smile.

“I don’t even know what that is.”

“We share a connexon” He says, voice cracking, and then proceeds to laugh like he’s just heard the funniest joke in the entire world.

It’s astonishing, Changkyun smiles in an unique way. When he laughs, instead of his eyes disappearing, his face lights up and they shine. His eyebrows rise and his mouth opens in a wide smile as a bright laughter is made present, his nose wrinkling ever the slightest. And then he squeezes his eyes shut and his head drops forward, laughing harder, and Hoseok can’t help but to smile just as wide, his childish laughter joining Changkyun’s in a choir.

“I have no idea what you just said.” He confesses with a smile.

Changkyun wipes his eyes, disrupting his glasses as he does so, then takes a spoonful of ice cream before responding.

“It’s because…” He starts. “In this chapter Jamie is learning about epithelial cells, and those cells interact, which means they connect to each other, on the sides by different junctions.” Another spoonful, and Hoseok raises an eyebrow. “There’s like, occluding junctions, and then you’ve got adhering junctions and gap junctions.” He adds, and Hoseok nods even though he doesn’t know what it means. “And the gap junctions specifically, well they connect the cells together, right? And each cell has connexins. And when two cells have interacting connexins you they form a connexon!”

“How did you expect me to understand that out of context?”

The younger seems to realize his fault, and smiles sheepishly at the alpha. “Sorry, I should sometimes remember not everyone’s obsessed with the book like I am.”

Hoseok’s eyes soften. “That’s alright.” He shoves more of his sundae in his mouth. They pace around without any specific path in mind, just enjoying the moment since none of them usually go out like this.

Then, while Changkyun’s ogling at some very good looking but expensive combat boots, Hoseok’s phone goes off, and he frowns.

“Hello?” He answers.

“Hey boss, heard the meeting went well!” Exclaims the voice on the line.

It’s Nayeon.

“It did, thank you. Everything alright?” He asks with a slight frown, and Changkyun glances at him curiously.

“Actually, I have quite bad news.” She says, and the older alpha can picture clearly the face she’s making. “Your flight was delayed due to weather conditions.”

“What weather conditions?” He looks at Changkyun. “Besides some clouds everything seemed to be fine earlier?”

The face the beta makes tells Hoseok there’s something he should be aware of that he clearly isn’t.

“Apparently, for what I’ve been told, there’s going to be a typhoon. Not too bad and it’ll most probably have subsided the next day, but also not safe to take a flight until it’s gone.” Nayeon says on the line. “Better be safe than sorry, boss.”

“No, no, I get it. Sure.” He runs his hand through his hair. “Anything else?”

“I’ll be calling the company you’d be having a meeting with in Japan, of course, and settle if it’s alright to hold it until the day after.” The younger alpha informs swiftly. “And, well, I just thought you’d like to know apparently RM is very pleased at what you’ve done there. So keep up the good work.” She says in an overly sweet voice, spot on at annoying the older.

“Okay. Thanks Nayeon-ah. Take care.” He rolls his eyes with a chuckle.

“You too, boss. Take care of my cousin.”

They hang up.

“A typhoon?” Changkyun asks the second he slips the phone back into his pocket.

“Yeah.” Hoseok sighs. “We’re not going back tomorrow.”

“Well, I guess that’s not completely unexpected. Winter is just ending and we’re in the Philippines, after all.” He shrugs. “We should go back to the hotel, though. If it’s gonna happen later then the wind might already be a little strong.”

“I’ve never witnessed a typhoon before.” Hoseok says, feeling like his tie just got a little tighter. “Is it… bad?”

“Well, it depends on what stage typhoon it is.” The beta says, his calming voice making Hoseok more at ease. “It’ll most probably flood the city, but if we’ll be alright to fly the next day then it’s probably not that big of a deal. We’ll be safe in the hotel.”

Hoseok doesn’t reply right away, looking down at the smooth floor of the shopping mall as they walk side by side towards the exit, Changkyun with his phone in hand or order a Grab driver.

It’s a bit of a hassle, but they’re eventually on their way, the sky grey with clouds waiting to cry over them, and Hoseok looks out the window silently as the radio plays — unsurprisingly, according to Changkyun, it’s a song from a korean girlgroup Hoseok should know — and serves as white noise for them. The beta taps his fingers against his knee to the rhythm of the song, glancing down at his phone.

“What happens to those people?” Hoseok asks quietly, but loud enough for the younger to hear. Changkyun looks out the window where the older’s gaze is.

“You mean people who live on the street, right?” He questions, almost a whisper, the answer not needed. “They find shelter, hopefully.”

“Hopefully?” The alpha turns to look at him. “Doesn’t the government do anything about it?”

They share a look, and there’s something in the younger’s eyes that make Hoseok feel bad for asking, like he’s reminding him of a bad memory. The beta shakes his head minimally, a sad smile on his lips, then he looks back down at his phone.

Hoseok wants to scream.

 

“It’s going to be a stage two, from what I’ve got from the news.” Changkyun tells Hoseok, the both of them sitting side by side on a couch on the lobby, bored out of their minds.

“It’s already started raining.” The older mutters, and the blond male next to him nods.

“It’s only getting worse from now on.” Says the beta. “It’s gonna get colder in here, lucky you, complaining about the heat.”

“Can’t say this is luck.” Glares the taller. “I didn’t want it to happen.”

“You don’t have to look at me like I’ve accused you of treason, Hoseok-ssi.” Changkyun says lightly. “Maybe we should go up to our rooms.”

“Why?”

“We’re not doing anything here, are we?” He shrugs. “It’s nine in the evening already, we should go try to sleep through it before it gets too bad.”

The alpha sighs. “Sure.” He agrees, not wanting to reason about this.

 

The wind is strong, loud, and the thunders even worse.

Hoseok can’t shut his eyes in fear he’ll be attacked by Thor himself. The alpha wouldn’t like to admit it, but it’s not secret he’s a bit of a scaredy cat. He curls up in bed, breathing heavily and trying not to straight up die of fear.

The clock glows a big fat red 2 to rub it in his face that he’s been trying to sleep for three hours now. He sighs, then proceeds to yelp at a loud booming thunder.

This is ridiculous.

He grabs the phone automatically, thinking of calling Hyungwon, but he realizes that might be a stupid idea since it won’t do much to help him. He could call Hyunwoo, but he doesn’t want to wake him up again, nor does he want to disturb Minhyuk.

So he dials the ramal to Changkyun’s room and prays for the best.

 _“Hello?”_ Answers a deep and tired voice.

“Changkyun-ssi?” He asks, somewhat frantic.

_“Oh, hey sunbae. Can’t sleep?”_

“I’m not gonna lie to you, Changkyun. I’m frightened.” He says, wincing at the flashing lighting outside that can only mean an incoming thunder. “I think I’m dying. My heart is gonna stop, Changkyun.”

 _“Well, yeah, eventually it will.”_ The younger snorts, and Hoseok makes a horrified face. _“But you’re not gonna_ die _because of the storm.”_

“I might.” He sighs.

 _“What do you need from me, hyung?”_ The younger questions, voice serene and careful.

“Why are you awake?” The older decides to ask.

_“Too much noise. And remember I told you I’m used to going to bed late?”_

“Can we talk until I feel better?” He asks. There’s a loud booming thunder, and the older jolts with a surprised shout.

He feels humiliated, to say the least. Changkyun is his colleague, beta, and a whole four years younger than him — not to say shorter and skinnier — and yet he’s the one calling in fright because of a storm on steroids. Hoseok knows he might regret this later, acting like a six year old instead of the twenty-nine years old man he is, but he honestly can’t help it at the moment, as scared as he is.

 _“Sunbae, you can come down to my room if you want.”_ The younger says with a sigh. _“The bed is wide enough, and I’m three floors down from you.”_

The older thinks it through. They’re nowhere close enough for this. Of course, he feels like that could help calm him down, but he doesn’t want to go back to that awkward stage both he and Changkyun have found themselves in before.

Flashing lights outside make that choice for him.

“I’m coming over.” He says in a hurry. “I’ll get my things, be there in a few.”

 _“Okay.”_ The beta chirps before cutting the call.

Hoseok takes his phone, his pillow — so he has something to hold — and anything else he deems necessary for the night, and makes sure he has his keycard with him before leaving the room and flying down to Changkyun’s floor, regretting having taken the lift when another thunder strikes.

The beta opens the door with messy blond hair and no glasses on, sporting about the same thing he was when Hoseok knocked on his door in the morning to drag him down to breakfast: A shirt and boxers. Hoseok had the decency of putting on sweatpants, but he feels Changkyun isn’t one to worry about modesty when he’s not obligated to.

“Good evening.” He says with his deep monotone voice, and lighting strikes behind him, causing the younger to look like a ghost in a horror movie. Hoseok swallows.

“H-hey.” He smiles a little strained. “Sorry to bother.”

“It’s alright.” Changkyun waves his hand. “I invited you here anyway.” He yawns and turns to walk into the bedroom, Hoseok following after closing the door.

The older shrugs. It’s true, he was invited.

“Do you want something to drink? We can order room service.” Suggests the younger, sitting down on the bed. “You seem a bit jittery.”

“I don’t deal well with storms.” The older says quietly. “I don’t like loud noises.”

“That’s understandable.” Changkyun says, looking up at Hoseok with something in his eyes the older can’t really tell what. Almost like he’s curious.

“I guess.” The older brings in his shoulders.

“Wanna watch something? I logged into my Netflix account.” He glances at the older. “We can watch a cheesy rom com if you want.” He says, and pauses. “You can also get on the bed, I won’t yell at you.”

“Okay.” Hoseok quietly responds, walking to the bed while hugging his pillow against himself, sitting down on the right side, feeling like a pup instead of a grown man. “We can watch whatever you want.” He says.

“How about The Proposal?” The beta suggests in a monotone tone as he scrolls down the rom com category, looking over his shoulder to see the alpha nodding with wide eyes. He snorts. “Okay.”

Hoseok’s see that movie before, and he likes it a lot, so he watches it through the whole thing, the storm outside subsided by how invested he is in the movie. Changkyun mostly lies down making snarky comments at the scenes that are just _too_ cheesy, but he has to admit the alpha Sandra Bullock plays is very attractive.

“Is that guy your type?” Changkyun questions absentmindedly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“Ryan Reynolds?” Hoseok asks. “Isn’t he everyone’s type?”

“The omega he plays.” Clarifies the shorter male with a laugh.

The ravenette purses his lips. “He kind of reminds me of my ex, actually.” He smiles softly. “Which means he might be my type but that we wouldn’t work out.”

The blond male looks up at him curiously from where he’s lying down on the bed. “What happened? Did he break your heart?”

“He couldn’t have broken my heart, he’s my best friend.” Hoseok smiles down at Changkyun. “He took care of me. I’ve always been a bit of a mess, you see.” He chuckles. “But as happy as we were together, there was always something missing. We dated for years and years but there wasn’t much excitement in our relationship.” He tilts his head. “We were basically best friends who lived together, cuddled sometimes and fucked.”

“What does he look like?”

“I thought your cousin would’ve already shown you. She thirsts over him constantly.” The alpha rolls his eyes as he reaches for his phone.

 _“My cousin?_ Nayeon doesn’t like men.” The younger frowns.

“You’ve told me.” Hoseok mutters. “For some reason she’s into my best friend. Who’s engaged, by the way.” He hands Changkyun his phone.

“Hm.” The younger hums, looking at the photo. “He’s very pretty.” He purses his lips. “Also, no offense, but he looks exactly like the type of omega I’d have expected you to date, Hoseok-ssi.”

The older frowns, leaning down to see the phone screen. “Oh! No, actually.” He smiles when he realizes the misunderstanding. “My ex is the big one. The shorter guy he’s backhugging is his alpha.”

Changkyun’s whole demeanor changes. “For real? Isn’t he like taller than you?” He gapes.

“Yeah, he’s taller. His fiancé Kihyun might be your height.” He smiles. “You can’t say they’re not a cute couple.”

Changkyun’s still gaping. _“That’s_ your ex omega boyfriend?”

“That’s my ex boyfriend who happens to be an omega, yes.” Hoseok laughs. “He doesn’t look like the conventional omega.” He says. “Doesn’t act like one either.”

“He’s _hot.”_ The younger whispers. “He looks like those alpha male leads in dramas.”

“Yeah, that’s our Hyunwoo.”

“And his alpha is so tiny.” Cries the beta. “Why are they so cute?”

“Are you okay, Changkyun-ssi?” Hoseok laughs with a raised eyebrow.

The younger hands him the phone back and lies down with a huff. “I’m fine, I just guess I didn’t expect you to have dated someone so… like that.”

“Why not?”

“No offense, but you don’t look like the type of alpha who’s into omegas that aren’t, like, lean and pretty faced and petite and submissive and… Conventional is the word here I guess.” He glances at him. “I’m sorry to have judged you.”

The publicist shakes his head. “It’s alright.” He shrugs. “Not that I like it, but people like to put me in the box very often, so I’m used to it.”

The shutters keep the storm away from their eyes, but the loud thunders are still present, and even if the movie distracts the alpha, he still recoils slightly at the reminder of mother nature’s rage outside. Changkyun is aware of this fact, of course, and the younger wonders if he’ll be kept up all night due to his alpha sunbae scared of a little storm on steroids.

“Hey, I just thought of another joke from Hyungwon-nim’s book.” He says with an honest smile, and Hoseok doesn’t have the courage to tell him he’ll probably be clueless about this one too, as he looks down at the younger’s face to see how excited he seems to be about sharing the joke; probably to make him feel better.

And so he incentives the beta to speak.

“I’ve learned well, this time, I’ll tell you the context first. And it’s a nice and easy pun, maybe you’ll like it.” He says, his face lighting up even more, and Hoseok lets himself hold onto a little hope he’ll get this one. “So in this very scene, Jamie is also in class, and they were talking about tonicity.” He says , motioning with his hands. “And then Jamie asks her friends what’s the size of water.” He chuckles as he pauses to let the question sink in. “And then she says… Tubig.”

Hoseok’s smile falters a bit, and he frowns. Changkyun’s laughing lightly, seeming to be having fun at the memory of that passage of the book. “I’m guessing that makes a lot of sense for people who study medicine?” The alpha risks.

The younger falls into realization, and pinches the bridge of his tall nose. “I forgot you don’t speak tagalog.” He sighs. “Or english.”

“I’m guessing that was necessary for me to get the joke, huh?” The older says with amusement.

Changkyun huffs at the shit eating grin on his senior’s face. “Maybe.” He rolls his eyes. “Tubig is water in tagalog, and _too big_ is english for too big, like in size.” He explains.

“Oh.” He hums. “I guess that’s funny.”

The beta groans, pulling the bed covers over his head. “Let’s sleep.” He suggests, done with the exchange and hoping to never remember a joke around this man. There’s a silence from the older’s part, and Changkyun has to peek out of his hiding place under the sheets to look up at him curiously. Hoseok seems to be fidgeting, looking at a far wall. Changkyun waits.

“I can’t… I don’t think I can manage to sleep with the storm.” He says quietly, like he’s in shame. “The TV doesn’t block out the sound of the wind and the thunders, and I can’t sleep with the sound, it frightens me.” He smiles down at the younger, a bit strained.

Changkyun doesn’t know what to do. He considers just going to sleep and leaving the alpha to fend for himself, ignoring whatever his parents taught him about cordiality and good manners, and having a nice night of sleep, afraid the older male sleeping in his room might mean he’ll have to wake up early once again the next day. But then he remembers how Hoseok had bought not only one, but various lollipops in the flavours he liked, and carried them around in his pocket in case Changkyun ever felt the urge to smoke — which he did.

“Wait a second.” He mutters, and sits up, gets off the bed, and goes to his backpack. He rummages through it for some time until he finds what he wanted, and comes back to bed with two earphones.

“Why do you have two?” Questions the older with a slight frown, catching the one the beta throws at him.

“That one’s from the plane. I got it so I can have a spare one.” He shrugs. “I left my expensive headphones at home for obvious reasons.”

Then he lies down next to Hoseok, and motions for him to lie down too. The older obeys, curiously watching as Changkyun grabs a little thing that looks like a thick white Y letter. He plugs it on his phone, then takes both his earphones and Hoseok’s, and plugs one in each end. “What kind of songs do you like, sunbae?” He asks quietly, motioning for the older to put on his own buds, and he obeys.

“I don’t know. Sometimes I just listen to the radio.” He shrugs. The younger looks up at him, and the alpha feels like he’s being judged. “What?”

“Nothing.” The beta replies far too quickly for it to be true. “I’ll just find a Hits playlist or something.” He sighs, and not too long after, a song he recognizes having heard before, from a western artist, starts playing. Hoseok glances at Changkyun, and the younger is looking right back, expectant, and so the older realizes that way he can’t hear the storm anymore. He smiles, and thanks the younger, pulling up the covers and closing his eyes. Changkyun smiles back when he’s not looking anymore, and moves to turn off the lamp next to the bed.

 

“Wanna know how to say ‘nipples’ in tagalog?” Changkyun asks, lying on the bed as he watches Hoseok look around for a shirt to put on, his things already packed and ready, now in Hoseok’s room as he waits for the older to be ready to go to the airport so they can take their plane and go to Tokyo.

The older looks up with a faint blush, but nods absentmindedly. “Sure, I guess.”

“Utong.” The blond says proudly. Hoseok hums, not really paying attention, and then a slight silence follows before the younger speaks up again. “Since we’re in the topic of nipples…” Changkyun trails off, and Hoseok dreads what’s coming next.

“We’re not really in the topic of nipples.” He says back, but gets ignored.

“Why are yours always hard?” Questions the beta.

Hoseok looks mortified. He looks down at his chest, then covers his nipples with his hands, his previously pale face now beet red. “Is that really something to ask someone?” He scolds.

Changkyun is unable to hide his amusement at the alpha’s flustered expression. “I think it’s a reasonable thing to ask someone you’re currently seeing shirtless while lying on their bed.” He shrugs.

Shaking his head, the black haired man ignores what the younger could be implying, and turns back to the question. “I don’t know why.” He says. “They just are.”

“Do you wear pasties to work, then?” Another question that makes Hoseok red. The older simply nods.

Changkyun is left laughing when Hoseok finishes putting on a shirt and leaves to enter the bathroom.

The previous day, after Hoseok waking up and almost crying in relief at the storm being gone. — and the fact he didn’t take Changkyun for the perfect plushie to attach himself onto in his sleep — the younger calling him dramatic for it, they went down to have breakfast, even if it was actually almost eleven in the morning. They didn’t have plans for the day, and the weather still wasn’t great for going out and risking to have to walk right through a flood, so they decided to stay inside and watch more movies. They went to Changkyun’s room once again, and Hoseok had given him yet another lollipop, predicting the younger might be feeling the absence of the cigarettes once again.

“We’ll buy you nicotine patches when we get to Tokyo tomorrow.” The older promises, and Changkyun smiles slightly at him in a silent expression of gratefulness.

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but spending so much time alone with another person can have almost the same effect, and Hoseok would like to believe after that day killing time together in Changkyun’s room, zapping through netflix and making fun at cheesy movies before settling on anything to watch, they were closer to the friendly end of the spectrum, further away from acquaintances, and the fear of awkward conversations and — god forbid — _silences,_ was now much less significant.

In the plane, now going to Tokyo, they have a nice conversation. Changkyun tells the older about his family briefly, and how his dad is a scientist, and very intelligent, and how he’s lived his life travelling due to his job. He tells him about the friends he used to have in Boston, and what he misses the most from Israel, and in return Hoseok explains to him about his own less exciting life. He lefts out the things Changkyun already knows, unless it’s necessary that he needs to mention them again, and then he tells him about him and Hyunwoo, and how what lacked between them became clear as water when the omega found love in his current fiancé.

Changkyun explains to the older, after his inquiry, why he knows how to say _nipples_ in tagalog, and the beta has to laugh at how the publicist hasn’t let that go, and so he has to explain the filipino stan Twitter gets very thirsty sometimes, and it’s useful to learn some things you wouldn’t find easily elsewhere. The conversation that follows is interesting.

“Stan Twitter?” Hoseok tilts his head. “Is that another name for Twitter? Like some kind of extension?”

Then the younger chuckles, and his eyes crinkle. “Sunbae, you’re only four years older, but sometimes it feels like it’s ten years.” There’s no malice in his voice, though, and he happily goes on to explaining to his senior the meaning of the term.

When they’re close to arriving, Hoseok remembers something in the side pocket of his bag, and reaches to grab it, handing the candy to Changkyun, this specific one the younger had mentioned he liked a lot, which he found for sale in the hotel.

“You got me a Choc-nut?” The beta’s smile is wide. “You remember that I mentioned it?”

“Of course. I saw it and I felt like I just had to get it. See it as a symbol of my gratefulness for coming to the Philippines with me, and for not hanging up on me when I called you so late because the typhoon scared me.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that, sunbae.” The younger says sincerely. “But I’ll take it, thank you.”

The arrival in Tokyo and the whole ordeal until they get to the hotel the company booked for them is a lot more comfortable for Hoseok, who speaks very basic japanese, and has been to the country before. Still, Changkyun does most of the talking, and feels more at ease at the fact the older seems to be feeling less like a burden like he was during their stay in the Philippines.

In the car, on their way to the hotel, Hoseok turns to Changkyun with a serene but expectant expression, and the beta raises his eyebrows.

“Do you think we could share a room this time instead of sleeping in separate ones, or once again different floors? It would be a lot easier to get things done, then, and the company would be spending less money on us.” He suggests carefully.

Changkyun blinks, then offers him a small smile. “Sure.” He shrugs. “Sounds good.”

It’s small, but the older senses he’s being genuine, so he contents himself with that. As they arrive at the hotel, they talk to the receptionist, and explain who they are, their personal information and company so she could check on what has been booked for them. She tells them it’s possible to get them a room for the both of them to stay in, but that they’d have to wait some minutes until it’s ready for them. Both the beta and alpha thank her, and politely say they’ll wait the necessary time.

It honestly feels like they had just sat down when they’re called to be informed the room is ready, and Changkyun jokes maybe the lady at the reception was a bit pessimist to have told them to wait a few minutes.

The room is cozy, not as big as the ones in the Philippines, and the beds were almost right up against each other, but they were spacious, and there was still something of a space between them. The view is pretty, and Hoseok shivers a bit at the glass doors of the balcony, taking upon himself to close the blinds when Changkyun’s had enough time to appreciate and compliment the view.

“Now what?” Asks the beta as he’s sitting in the armchair in an corner of the room, watching Hoseok go through his toiletries to put on his skincare products after washing his face. He’s got a pink soft headband to hold back his hair, and the blond male thinks it’s both hilarious and endearing.

“What? You mean you’re not having fun watching me do my skincare routine?” Teases the older. Changkyun rolls his eyes, and says he’s very entertained, yes, with all the sarcasm he can muster to put into his tone. “Go wash your face, and we’ll put something on that face of yours too.” He suggests.

The beta murmurs something about not having anything better to do, but he would admit to himself — and himself only — that he was a bit excited to treat himself by pampering his poor skin.

So five minutes later, face washed, he’s sitting next to Hoseok, his glasses on the bedside table and half his dirty blonde hair up on a ponytail that bobs around when he moves, and the alpha has to restrain himself from cooing. He imitates the older as he puts on toner and moisturizer, and whatever the hell at these other things are. “Can’t we put on these maks?” He questions, holding up a little container, and a packet of what seems to be black charcoal masks, which look _very cool._

“Not now, we’ve already put on products.” The alpha laments.

The graphic designer pouts, and his ponytail bobs forward unhappily when he leans in to put back the masks in the older’s necessaire. “But we can use them next time, right?” His face brightens at the prospect of playing with the clay and charcoal masks on his face, and he lets out one of his childish giggles when Hoseok nods, which leads the older to smile as well.

For dinner, they call room service, and go to bed early, being drained out from the trip, even if short, and feeling too tired to go out that day. The change in plans due to the typhoon had meant they’d have their meeting the next day, then go back to Korean the morning after that, leaving them with no real time to enjoy of the city’s beauty. But, granted, both of them had visited Tokyo before, and probably would do it again in the future, so the loss wasn’t as grieved upon as it would maybe be by someone else.

About the meeting, they talked briefly before getting ready to bed, and they were both confident on it, only needing to renew a contract with a company that was having second thoughts, and Lee Hoseok was the right man for convincing, especially with his new sidekick on his side, who could be almost as charming, or maybe just as much charming in a different way, the older had noticed, when the situation asked for it.

Hoseok might not have realized yet, the beta was most certainly always charming, in his own way, and such fact would soon be noticed by him.

The next day is has both of them on a good mood, having went to bed early, and even Changkyun didn’t have anything to complain about when the older insisted on him choosing what he was gonna have for breakfast so they could order it. Hoseok woke up and washed his face, and told Changkyun they could put on the masks after having breakfast. The beta’s excitement was adorable.

So they eat, enjoy the food a lot, and soon Changkyun’s back with his messy half updo, and Hoseok’s headband makes a comeback. The older explains to him how to use the charcoal mask, emphasizing on making sure to keep it away from eyebrows and hairline, or else he’d have another thing coming. As for himself, the alpha’s got a clay mask, and puts it on while telling the beta a story about a day in which Hyunwoo went out and left both him and Kihyun alone at their place, only to come back to both alphas wearing face masks in the middle of discussing who Katniss should have ended up with in the Hunger Games saga. Changkyun laughs so hard he needs to stop the older talking to be able to breathe.

They chat about whatever series on Netflix they’ve been watching in common — surprisingly there were a few — until they’re ready to take off the masks. Hoseok washes his face clean in the sink while Changkyun stands next to him, trying to peel off the charcoal mask without shedding a tear at how it feels like ripping off his skin. He’s unsuccessful.

“You’ll be fine.” Hoseok promises as he hands Changkyun a wet tissue so he can wipe his pink face. “At least you’ve got no more blackheads.”

“Or the first layer of my skin.” The beta sniffles. “So _cruel.”_ He mutters.

The older chuckles at him, patting his shoulder. He promises Changkyun that he’ll be fine in a few minutes, and that they can put on some moisturizer on his face so his skin won’t be too dry.

Soon, the beta’s face is back to it’s shade of a light tan, and they’re getting ready to go out for the meeting.

Unlike how it was in the Philippines, the city is cold, and they probably welcome it better than they had the heat, since back in Korea the temperature was also very low.

Hoseok feels comfortable, even if somewhat still being dependant on Changkyun, he’s not completely lost, and manages to understand a good part of what’s happening and what’s being discussed without needing the beta to translate everything to him. It’s a good thing the alpha isn’t utterly clueless to his surroundings, for the meeting doesn’t run as smoothly as the previous one they were in, and there had to be some convincing, changes in the terms of the partnership, some discussing, and at some point Hoseok had been afraid they wouldn’t be able to close it, not being able to offer anything else or they’d end up with a negative margin in the income.

They walk out of the building feeling like the most powerful men to have walked the earth, with the deal closed, and reliving moments from the meeting between giggles and hushed words, like gossiping teens.

Just like previously discussed, the both of them go back to the hotel, chatting and chuckling to each other while in the subway. Hoseok watches Changkyun laugh, smiling wide himself, and notices how his eyes shine when he does so. He looks younger when he smiles, the alpha decides, he looks his age, instead of older.

On their way, they walk into a drugstore to buy the nicotine patches, and lose themselves when they find flavoured _Kit Kats,_ picking up some to try. They get to the hotel without much expectation of the rest of the day’s activities. Hoseok helps Changkyun glue on a patch, accidentally sticking it to the tip of his finger in the process, and struggling _just slightly_ to get it off. They order room service again for lunch, and watch a movie while they eat.

“This is the last one.” Hoseok tells Changkyun as he hands him a lollipop, half an hour after lunch, this time a grape flavoured one. “I’m not sure if you like this flavour, but that’s what they had.”

“I can’t tell if the patch is working or if the fact I’m not feeling like smoking that much is your doing.” The beta confesses, eyeing the candy in his hand. “Thank you, by the way.”

Hoseok smiles bright, that way that makes him look like a bunny. “I’m just glad to see you letting go of that. It’s really bad for you.”

The younger fiddles with his fingers. “Yeah. My dad would be upset if he knew, to be honest. I’ve been hiding it from him for some time.” He sighs. “At least now my conscience will be clean when I go back home. It’s hard to lie to my parents.”

“I get you, really. I’m very close with my mom, and whenever there’s something I can’t tell her to spare her of suffering, it feels like I weigh twice as much.” He pouts. “You could say I’m my mom’s boy. Hyunwoo calls me that. He says it’s probably why I’m so clingy.”

“I’ve noticed.” Changkyun chuckles. “You hug the pillow so tight in your sleep I fear it’ll burst.”

The older has the decency to look embarrassed, but he smiles.

The movie is soon over, and they discuss it together, Changkyun explaining the parts Hoseok was unsure about, and the older pointing out things in the main character’s relationships with the people around him that affect how the movie ends entirely.

Time goes by, and the later afternoon comes soon. They lie down in their respective beds, each on their phone, scrolling through social media and texting. Hoseok texts the _Triple H (and M!!!)_ on Kakao, commenting on how Tokyo feels even more stuffy than the last time he had been there, if possible. Minhyuk sends some sick face emojis, Hyungwon leaves him on read, and Hyunwoo tells him to stay inside unless he needs to go out, to prevent it.

“I’m bored.” Changkyun declares, hand dropping to his side, holding his phone.

“Wanna watch another movie?” Hoseok questions, looking up from his own device.

The beta groans loudly, and the older male takes that as a _no._

“Then what do you wanna do?” He asks again.

“I don’t know.” The younger groans, rolling and pressing his face against the pillow.

There is a silence that stretches into a minute as Hoseok thinks and Changkyun feels too lazy to move or speak.

“Put on some music. It might cheer you up.” The alpha suggests.

“I guess.” Changkyun mutters.

He moves, rolling onto his side to grab his phone and put on a song.

“What’s this?” Questions the older as the song starts playing. He doesn’t recognize it.

“It’s from my daily [ playlist ](https://open.spotify.com/user/ficsbywho/playlist/3p6Ys8O4SYxLTo7FEkbv6i?si=exqWWwLoQ6ysB0Ifd3-dvA).” The beta says. “The one I usually listen to.”

There’s the small pause of a heartbeat.

 _“Oh,_ I see.” Hoseok nods to himself.

“What?”

“You’re one of those, indie-hipster-radiohead type of people. Like in the movies.” The older says teasingly.

“Excuse me?” Changkyun sits up with a half-playful scowl. “Am not.”

Hoseok snorts. “If you say so.”

The younger rolls his eyes and gets up from the bed, leaving the phone there as he’s going to the bathroom.

“You know, a lot of people would be offended you put indie, hipster and radiohead in the same category.” He calls out as he enters the bathroom.

“That sounds like something a hipster would say!” Hoseok calls back with a smile.

Besides the teasing, the song isn’t bad. It’s not Hoseok’s style, meaning he’s not used to listening to songs like this, but it doesn’t mean he can’t come to like it.

Changkyun soon walks out of the bathroom, and he stops in the middle of the room with a blank expression. Hoseok looks up from his phone curiously, and the younger looks at him before smiling and starting to dance like a crazy man.

“What are you doing?” Asks the older, locking his phone and putting it down on the bed as he sits up and chuckles brightly at Changkyun doing an exaggerated impression of Mia Wallace dancing.

“Dancing, obviously!” The beta says loudly, laughing to himself. “Come on, get up and do a Travolta.”

Hoseok has no idea what that means, but he shrugs and gets up before he starts jumping around to the song he doesn’t know the name of. Later the younger would tell him it was called King.

Changkyun takes one of his hands, and Hoseok twirls around like a ballerina — or at least, he tries — and it has the younger throwing his head back in laughter. He starts twirling too, and they get so dizzy they have to hold onto each other after they stop. It’s unsuccessful, and they both fall onto Hoseok’s bed, laughing until they’re breathless.

The song comes to an end, and Hoseok glances to his side just a second before Changkyun does too, and they share a look and a smile.

Then the next song comes up, and Changkyun’s eyes widen, and he jumps up, ignoring the dizziness and dropping his glasses on the bed, to shout out the lyrics _“I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation!”_ before he starts headbanging.

Hoseok watches in amazement before he joins in.

They dance around until it’s getting dark outside.

Changkyun grabs a juice box from the frigobar, and throws Hoseok one too, claiming he doesn’t care since the company is paying. The alpha snorts.

“What’s your favorite juice?” Changkyun asks, sitting on the floor with his back to the bed, Hoseok sitting on it, right next to him. The younger puts his head on the mattress and looks up at him.

“Orange, I think.” He says, then giggles, waving the box of orange juice in his hand. “I’m basic, I think. What’s yours?”

“I really like mango. But I think pineapple is my favorite.” The beta states as he stabs the box with a straw. “Though I like orange too.”

“What have you got there?” Questions the older.

Changkyun looks down at it. “Apple.” He mutters, then sips on it.

The older does the same, and he wiggles his feet absentmindedly as he glances around the room. He looks towards the balcony, and notices the sky outside as the sun sets and the darkness of the night comes. So he stands, and nudges Changkyun, so that the beta will follow him.

“We’re gonna watch the sunset?” Asks the beta as he steps out, the chilly air making him shiver.

“I thought we could, since we’re so up high.” The older replies. Then he looks down, and takes a step back, his back touching the glass from the door. _“Holy shit,_ we’re so up high.”

The younger laughs. “Are you afraid of heights?”

“I’m afraid of falling and dying.” Answers the alpha. “...And of heights.”

“It’ll be fine, sunbae, don’t worry.” Soothes the younger, patting him on the arm. “Just drink your orange juice, look at the sky.”

The older brings the box to hips lips slowly and sips on the straw, looking up at the orange and pink of the sky and where it merges with the darkening blue. Changkyun is next to him, doing the same, and he looks so solemn, so calm, that it puts the older at ease.

He realizes then, that he likes being around Changkyun. He likes it a lot. It doesn’t feel like he has to put up a facade around him, doesn’t have to pretend to be the kind of person he’s technically supposed to be. Changkyun doesn’t seem to expect or want him to be the model alpha, to want to dominate everyone, and feel superior just because of the α extra chromosome he has. He doesn’t need to be what he isn’t.

The alpha’s been himself, ever since the very beginning of the trip, and he stopped worrying about what Changkyun would think almost right away. He was happy being himself, he was glad. And it makes him wonder, _why can’t he have that in a relationship as well?_ Why can’t he feel this at ease with whatever partner he ends up with?

He glances at the beta, and then it dawns on him.

Wait.

Oh no.

Oh fuck.

The younger seems to be unaware of his internal conflict, sipping on his apple juice while watching the sky slowly change it’s colour. He looks to his side, and finds Hoseok staring at him, and just stares back curiously, glasses slowly sliding down the bridge of his nose before he pushes them back up.

His eyes shine so bright, and Hoseok hates that it now makes his stomach feel weird.

“You alright?” Asks the younger.

He nods way too quickly. “Peachy.”

“Okay, then let’s go back inside, because I’m freezing.” The beta chuckles, then turns to walk back into the bedroom. Hoseok follows swiftly, and they close the sliding doors behind them. He wanders around, the empty juice box in his hand. “Are you still a little bothered because of the height?”

He looks up, surprised, and he realizes he might be a little to transparent, especially to this boy who’s been around him for a whole week now. “Yeah. I’m really afraid of heights.”

“Do you need anything?” The beta questions as he sits down on the bed and throws the juice box in the trash bin.

“No, I’m good.” Hoseok shakes his head. “I’ll be fine.”

The beta fiddles with his fingers, and hums to himself. He wonders if maybe he upset the older. He didn’t know he was afraid of heights, and maybe it was embarrassing for him to admit to it.

“Do you wanna try the Kit Kats we got?” He asks.

Hoseok looks at him and smiles. “Sure.” He says. “I want to try strawberry.” The older climbs onto Changkyun’s bed, sitting in front of him cross-legged while the younger gets the bag with the sweets.

“I want to try the soybean one.” The beta says. “We’ve got a lot from each, so let’s just split and each gets a half of a mini one.” He suggests, to which the older nods happily.

The alpha takes the first one, and he opens and snaps in half so that each of them gets a piece. It’s strawberry flavour, and since generic, it’s very underwhelming. Hoseok likes it, while Changkyun says it’s a bit too sweet for him, so he passes the bag with the remaining ones to the older.

“Green tea.” Changkyun reads. “Do you like green tea?” He looks up at Hoseok.

He’s really, _really_ handsome, and the glasses make him cute too. He hates it.

“I do like it.” He nods. “You?”

“I like green tea, but I like it more when it’s milk tea.” The beta says. “We should have gotten milk tea at the Philippines. I wish I had remembered soon enough.” He pouts.

He gives him a sympathetic smile, and snaps the candy before handing the other to Changkyun, eating his piece. “This is so weird.” He laughs.

“It’s like chewing on milk tea. No, it’s like milk tea that you chew.” The younger tilts his head, and the motion reminds the older of Kihyun. “I like it.”

“You can keep them. I’ve got strawberry anyway.” He pushes the bag towards the younger.

“No, we can split if you like it too. If there’s any you don’t like but I do then I’ll take it.” He shrugs. “Here let’s go with this lemon one.” He opens it. “I wonder if it’s gonna be good or super weird.” The beta smiles.

They bite into it, and Hoseok grimaces, making Changkyun laugh. “I don’t like it.” He laughs as well. “Have it.”

“Glad to.” The beta takes the remaining piece of from Hoseok’s hand and throws it in his mouth. “I love this one.” He snickers.

“Let’s try another- Hey!” The older nags when Changkyun starts opening another lemon flavoured one. “You’re breaking the rules.” He laughs.

“Fuck the system.” Hisses the blond before snapping the Kit Kat and munching on it. Hoseok smiles to himself. Does Changkyun spend so much time with his hamster that he started to eat like her?

He sighs with a soft smile, and proceeds to grab a bag with different flavored chocolates inside. He opens the bag and fishes out one of the candies, watching as Changkyun chews on the last piece of his Kit Kat before he’s breaking it in half to let him taste the other one. “This is cappuccino.” He says. “I don’t have high expectations.”

The beta scrunches up his nose, and brings the chocolate to his lips reluctantly. He sniffs it first, and raises his brows as he takes a bite.

“No.” Hoseok shakes his head. “This is so wrong.”

“Burn it.” The younger throws the remaining piece in the trash bin. “I’m not keeping this one.”

“Neither am I!” Coughs the alpha. “I’ll give it to my ex.”

“I thought you said he was your best friend?” Changkyun says, confused.

“He’ll like this. He eats everything. _And_ he likes coffee.”

“I like coffee too. What’s the logic here?” The younger coughs. “Let’s try this white peach one. Maybe it’ll make the taste go away.”

They both bite into, having stark contrast reactions. “I like it.” Comments the older. “It’s nice and light.”

“It’s too sweet.” Changkyun shakes his head. “The taste of it plus the cappuccino hell is horrible.”

“Guess I’m taking this one, then.” Hoseok sings. “What do we have left?”

The younger peeks inside the bag. “There’s the wasabi one you got for your friend, and cheesecake and soybean.” He hands Hoseok the wasabi flavored Kit Kat package.

“It was your idea to get soybean. I don’t even wanna taste it.”

“You’re the one who picked up the strawberry one, sunbae, and it killed me inside.”

Hoseok snorts and rolls his eyes. “Fine.”

“We’ll have it first, because it might be shit, then we eat the cheesecake one because it must be heaven.”

The beta starts opening the soybean flavored sweet, and the black haired man in front of him sings _Almost Paradise_ as a joke. He accepts his half of the chocolate, and tries not to think too hard as he bites onto it.

There’s a pause.

“I… like it?” He frowns. “What?”

“I like it too.” Laughs the younger, making a face. “That’s so weird. I thought it was going to be disgusting.”

They laugh, weirded out by the change of events, and eat what’s left of the candy, agreeing to split the remaining ones between them.

Then there’s cheesecake, and not a lot has to be said as they practically devour half the package while chatting about work — gossiping about colleagues — and joking about their CEO being like Charlie from Charlie’s Angels, playfully assigning the CFO, COO and their supervisor as each of the spies.

“I honestly think Hoseok-nim would be Cameron Diaz. He’s got that vibe, you know?” The alpha says. “Also, his smile is nice.”

“And you’re telling me Yoongi-nim should be Drew Barrymore and not Lucy Liu, sunbae, so clearly I shouldn’t trust your judgement.” The graphic designer argues.

They order dinner, which isn’t a lot of food, since they’ve done their taste testing with the Kit Kats.

The chat as they’re lying down, ready to fall asleep, isn't the most complex. They talk about the little things. Changkyun tells Hoseok about Hyungwon’s book again, explaining his favorite parts and why it’s so important to him, and in turn the older tells the beta about his ulzzang years, and how terribly cringey he used to be. He can’t bear not to laugh at Changkyun’s story about how he used to be in a kpop cover group when he returned to Korea, and covered EXO’s Growl with terrible platinum blonde hair.

“I’m thinking of dyeing my hair again.” The younger mutters.

“Really? What colour?” Hoseok mumbles, already tired enough to be too lazy to talk.

“Maybe a dark grey, with a blue undertone.” Changkyun says thoughtfully. “I would go black, but it’s a pain to get rid of it in case I might want to dye my hair again, you know?”

Hoseok hums. “You say _maybe,_ but you have a super detailed idea.” He chuckles.

“I just know what I want.” Argues the beta with a soft laugh. “I think the grey would be nice.”

“It would.” The alpha says. “You’ll look good with grey hair.”

The older falls asleep soon, and he misses how Changkyun smiles softly to himself, feeling fuzzy inside as he turns onto his side and falls asleep thinking of a certain child-like smile.

In the morning, they drag themselves out of the hotel, ready to go back home, but not so ready to get on a plane again. It’s standard procedure, and it almost feels like a blur. They wait around a considerable amount, and they sleep in the plane almost right away once they settle down.

Though this time, they wake up to turbulence, and Hoseok is still waking up when fear cripples up his spine and he can’t breathe. He grips onto the armrests, and wants to clench his eyes shut, but is unable to, scared if he closes them, the worst could happen. From the corner of his eyes, he can see Changkyun fidgeting, straightening his back. He feels himself shaking a bit as the plane shakes violently, and tries to think of anything else.

Then he feels a hand gripping his own, thightly, and he glances at Changkyun to find him holding his hand in his both, looking at him with wide eyes. “It’ll be okay. It’s just turbulence, this is normal. You’ll be fine, hyung.” He says. “Trust me.”

He doesn’t know why, if maybe because he knows the boy is extremely smart, but he does. He keeps his eyes on Changkyun, and as much fear as he’s feeling, he trusts him.

They arrive in Korea safely. Hoseok orders an uber, and Changkyun has a friend come pick him up — the same one he used to smoke with at work, Jeongyeon, and the older makes a mental note to text the beta about the nicotine patches, and remind him to take care. He’ll see him tomorrow at work, it’s alright.

As soon as he’s home, ready to take a shower and fall onto the couch to watch something while eating chips — he deserves them, he did at good job at the meeting — he gets a text from Hyungwon.

_you won’t believe what i just bought ༼ノ◕ヮ◕༽ノ︵┻━┻_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a shitty ending, but I promise I have more planned for the next chapter and I'm really excited to write what comes next uwu  
> -  
> I really hope you enjoyed this first part. Thank you for reading and please leave comments and kudos if you did so. Or leave me something on [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/DoctorFatCat)  
> Also! If you like wonkyun, showki and an actual well done slow burn, you should check out my friend's amazing fic; [the theory of first loves](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13130928). It's an amazing story and I'm sure you won't be disappointed uwu. If you check it out let her know I said hi lmao


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